Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion
by uruturamanzenith
Summary: When Oikonny returns to seek revenge, he is instantly put down by the Star Fox team. However, when thier old friend Steven returns, the team find themsleves in a conflict that the galaxy, if not the universe, may not survive.
1. An Old Friend, A New War

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

Chapter 1

An Old Friend, A New War

Lylat was on the brink of civil war. The criminal, Andrew Oikonny, has broken out of prison and reassembled his uncle's forces once more. Holing up on the planet Fortuna, He faced the Cornerian Fleet on his door-step, out-gunned and out-numbered. However, even a cornered animal will fight. Despite the odds being turned against him, Oikonny was able to hold off the larger Cornerian Fleet. That was when General Pepper, leader of the Cornerian Military, decided to call in the one team capable of dealing with this kind of situation. In orbit around Fortuna, Oikonny's fleet was fighting off the larger Cornerian Fleet. On his flag-ship, the ape saw everything that went on. Sitting in the commander's seat, the large screen in front of him showed the progress of battle, and it did not go well for him. The Cornerian ships traded fire with the Venomians, and the Venomians were being pushed back. His assistant turned to him, a worried look on his simian face. "Sir, the Cornerian fleet is doing heavy damage to our forces. We can't hold out much longer." Oikonny smiled.

"Persistent, eh? Well, I think it's secret weapon time!" At that moment, several ships just materialized in space, just ahead of Oikonny's main fleet. They carried several missile launchers on them, and fired upon the Cornerian Fleet. Several ships turned to flaming debris, while others were severely damaged. The admiral in charge of the fleet wasn't happy. The uniformed German Sheppard was tossed around by the explosion that rocked his ship, but regained his balance.

"Lousy ape! He's using stealth fighters! Have the ships regroup for another attack!" Just then, a jump-portal opened in the expanse of space, the emerald circle looking like water. Then, a ship passed through. It was large, sporting four huge wings along the base, while the command bridge sat at the end of a long neck the extended from the top of the base. It was one of the techies on the admiral's ship that recognized it right away.

"The Great Fox? Sir! The Star Fox Team is here!" The fleet admiral turned to the techie's station, seeing the ship on his screen. He felt relief well up from inside , and switched the image to the main monitor.

"About damn time." he says, almost under his breath with a grin.

On board the Great Fox, the team was assembled on the bridge. Fox, in his red vest with white gloves, green flight suit and matching red boots, stood in front of the rest of the team who stood there, and it was Fox McCloud who spoke for them. "Team Star Fox, reporting for duty." The rest of team looked up at the screen, which had the image of the fleet admiral. He looked at the team, taking each of the faces to memory. The next one he saw was an avian in a red flight suit. He sported blue feathers, which clashed with his red uniform, but didn't seem to care. The next one was an amphibian in a yellow outfit, with a tool-belt around his round waist and a red cap on his green head. The next one was a blue-furred vixen, in a matching flight suit that showed off her curves. She sported a tiara that went across her forehead with an emerald in the center. And last, was an elder hare that manned a console with a robot next to him.

"It's about time you guys showed up. Oikonny is giving us a lot of problems here." the fleet admiral said.

"Don't worry sir, we're on it." Fox replied as the admiral signed off. Fox turned to his team. "Peppy, what can you tell us about the situation?"

"It's Oikonny. He broke out of prison some time ago, and amassed his old uncle's army. I'm surprised that there are this many followers left, especially after last time."

"Pretty dedicated for a bunch of hired guns." Krystal commented.

"Most of them are just in it for the money, that's all." Peppy replied.

"Either way, we need to put him down. If he can amass his forces again, then there's no telling what he can do." Fox said.

"So, what do we do?" Slippy asked. Falco answered that with his usual flair.

"What do ya mean 'What do we do?' We're gonna put this crazy ape on ice!" the avian said.

"Alright, people. Let's rock and roll!" Fox said as he and the others headed for the hangar. Only Peppy and ROB 64 remained behind to man the ship, while the rest flew out in their arwings. The four ships flew towards the fighting , unaware of another presence; a glowing object, almost like a ball of red light, flies towards the battle field as well, although it has a different agenda. It does, on the other hand, take a short pause to observe the unfolding conflict with interest.

As the Star Fox team entered the fray, it was unclear who was winning the battle. Both sides fired on eachother simultaneously, each side sustaining heavy losses. As they entered the first line of the enemy fleet, the Star Fox team split up. Slippy and Falco went left and right, while Krystal went above, leaving Fox to go straight through. The enemy fighters saw him, and flew to intercept. However, Fox was waiting for them. Evading their oncoming fire with ease that comes from years of experience, the leader of the famous mercenary team downed the fighters with ridiculous ease. However, the rest could not be said for _all_ of the team members. "Fox, get this guy off me!" Slippy flew in front of Fox's arwing as he had two bandits on him.

"Hold on, Slippy!" Fox replied as he targeted the fighters. He fired off a charged shot, the red ball of energy streaking towards its target. It hits home as the two fighters exploded in a cloud of fire and debris.

"Thanks, Fox. I thought I was a goner." Slippy said, flying away. Fox was flying towards the enemy carriers, when he gets a surprise.

"Fox, let's take them down together." Krystal came flying in from above, forming up on his wing.

"Ready when you are." the vulpine replied. Both arwings flew past the defensive fire, landing strikes of their own to the enemy ships. Their hits struck their weak points, disabling or destroying the carriers. As the pair flew out of the blossoming explosions, they were linked up with the rest of the team. Falco smirked as he saw the pair.

"Ah, a match made in heaven." he said, with a mock romantic tone in his voice. Fox turned to look at Falco's arwing with a sharp look, while Krystal blushed slightly from embarrassment. As they neared the second line, Oikonny became aware of their presence.

"Sir, I have the Star Fox team on visual."

"Star Fox, eh? Work 'em over!" Just then, the fighters materialized in front of the team.

"Fox, watch out! It's a stealth squadron!" Krystal shouted. The team scattered as the missiles were fired. Before the pilots of the stealth fighters could react, the team acted faster. Letting loose with bolts of emerald laser fire, the stealth fighters were dispatched promptly. All the while, the floating luminescence kept its distance, observing the battle with interest. It knows how this will turn out, the battle was decided the moment the team got involved. But still, it watches with interest. It knows that the detection devices on the ships on both sides are unable to detect it, and that it is also shielded from the vixen's telepathic abilities.

As the team tore through the second line, the surrounding ships literally crashed and burned. Fighters, carriers, even supply ships who were moderately armed fired upon the four arwings. And as the team was famous, and infamous for, they tore through the line, all who met them were met with death. Oikonny felt a chill go down his spine and sweat beaded his simian forehead as he saw the four fighters tear through his armada. "Sir, they're through the second line!" his assistant said, looking over the shoulder of one of the techies.

"Is he some kind of demon?" Oikonny said aloud, seeing the Fox's arwing down several fighters with ease, followed by the rest of the team who followed suit. They caught sight of Oikonny's flag-ship as the ape began to turn around. "Lure him to the planet." Oikonny ordered. His assistant turned to face him.

"What? Are-are you…?" he began, but was cut off as the ship lurched forward.

"There's nowhere for you to run, Oikonny." Fox said as the four ships followed the ape to the planet's surface. The luminescence watched the scene from the background, and was about to move on, when he saw _his_ target head for Fortuna as well.

'So, they've made it to here after all,' the being within the light thinks. He followed his quarry to the planet, undetected by the Cornerian or Venomian ships.

Fortuna: On the surface of the planet, one could believe why it was given the nickname 'prehistoric planet'. Most of the planet is covered in dense tropical rain forest and jungle. Very few places have been mapped out, and fewer still have been habited, due to the climate, or the planet's own environment. However, that's probably why Oikonny headed down in the first place. As his flag ship neared the surface, the four arwings behind him drew ever closer to him. The Star Fox team was not about to let their quarry go so easily. "Make our way to the heart of the jungle! Let's lose them in the trees." Oikonny ordered. As the ship headed towards the thick of the trees, the arwings followed suit. Branches from the trees yielded and broke from Oikonny's flag ship, while the nimble arwings easily flew around them without difficulty. Oikonny noticed, and gritted his teeth. "Let's give them a present. Fire!" The rear of the ship opened up, and several gun emplacements sprouted, firing on the four fighters. The scarlet bolts danced and seared the foliage, but failed to hit the arwings. Fox fired at one of the turrets, destroying it. Falco and Krystal also shot one down, while Slippy shot at another, but missed. It targeted him, and let loose several scarlet bolts of death at him. Slippy barrel-rolled just in time, deflecting the bolts away from him, then fired a charged shot at the turret, destroying it in a macabre of flames and debris. Oikonny cursed, then urged his ship forward with post haste. In moments, the ship came to a clearing, which lead to a ravine. As the arwings followed the flag-ship, it descended into the ravine, with the Star Fox team in hot pursuit. Then, Oikonny's ship turned around to face them. "I've had just about enough of you!" he shouted. Then, something unexpected happened; Oikonny's ship began to change shape. First, it was the rear engines. The couplings holding them together fell off, and the engines floated in front of the long fuselage , and transformed into something that looked like hands, the fingers curling into fists. Then, the fuselage came apart, and formed a long face that resembled Oikonny's own visage. The fists pounded against eachother, then took up a battle stance that only a disembodied head with hands could only do. The team looked on, more from surprise and shock than anything else. In fact, it was Falco who spoke his mind, which was what the team was thinking.

"What's this? An Andross wannabe?" he asked, nearly laughing.

"W-watch your mouth! I'll show you!" Oikonny shouted in a rage.

"You think you can take me? Don't make me laugh!" Fox replied as he gunned his engine and rode his arwing forward, followed by the rest of the team. Oikonny swung out with his mechanical fists, hoping to swat them down like insects. However, the arwings were too nimble for him, and easily evaded his grasp. Peppy, who was monitoring the fight from the Great Fox, did a quick analysis on Oikonny's ship.

"Fox, aim for his hands! His weak-spot is the vulnerable spots in his palms!"

'Of course it's the hands with these people,' Fox thinks. As Oikonny reared his hand back to throw a punch at Fox, it was slightly opened, but just enough to leave the weak-spot exposed. Fox aimed a nova-bomb, and fired. The weapon made a b-line for the open hand, and detonated, turning the hand into useless scrap. Oikonny swung the useless limb in anger against the side of the ravine, then focused on Fox once more.

"Don't get cocky just yet, Fox! I still have my good hand left!" Oikonny said as he swung out at Fox. The vulpine dodged the wild swing, and fired at the face of the mechanical double. The emerald shots scorched the outer hull, while throwing sparks here and there, indicating that Fox was doing some damage to the ship. The vulpine smiled in satisfaction as he saw the miniature explosions. Krystal surged forward, letting loose her own barrage on the ape's visage. However, Oikonny saw her coming. Using his remaining hand, he grasped the arwing in his grip, and held it close to his hand. Fox saw this, and nearly felt his heart stop. Krystal looked at him, fear evident in her eyes. Oikonny laughed in triumph. "What now, Fox? You can't do anything while I have your precious girlfriend here! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Fox felt his anger well up as he snarled at the mechanical double of Oikonny.

"If you hurt her, I will make you suffer for the rest of your miserable existence!" he growled. Oikonny only laughed in response.

"Of course you will. Or rather, you would if I didn't have her!" he waved the arwing in front of him tauntingly. Krystal looked back at Oikonny, then back at Fox.

"Krystal, hold on! I'll get you out of there, I promise!"

"Oh, I don't think so. I'm going to make my getaway, and me and her are going to get, shall I say, better acquainted. So long, lover boy!" Then, Oikonny started to rise in the air, Krystal still in his grasp. She looked down, and tried to communicate with Fox.

'It'll be alright, Fox. It will work out in the end, I know that you'll come for me.'

"No, Krystal!"

"Fox!" Just then, several beams of light rained down from above, and collided with Oikonny's flag ship.

"UNCLE ANDROOOOOSSSSSS!" Oikonny's ship fell to the ground, nothing more than a smoking, smoldering ruin. Krystal's arwing came flying from the cloud of smoke and debris, taking her place next to her teammates. Fox flew in front of her.

"Krystal! Are you alright?" Fox asked, worried. Krystal smiled at him, and nodded.

'It's so good to know that you care, love.' Krystal says through her telepathy. Fox chuckles, then looks at the ruins of Oikonny's ship.

"What was that?" Fox asked.

"Hey, guys? I got something on my scope!" Slippy said.

"Where's it coming from, Slip'?" Fox asked.

"From above us!" the amphibian replied. The team looked up, and looked up in surprise at what they saw; it descended from the sky, and hovered above the ground. It was coned shape, with metal-like appendages showing. Then, the appendages opened, revealing what the thing truly was. It looked like a giant metal moth. It had the six segmented legs, thorax, abdomen and head of an insect, but the wings were split into twelve different pieces with six on each side of the body, with an eye looking orb on each end. It fluttered in front of them, the wings squeaking metallically, along with its own metallic shriek.

"What…is that?" Fox asked.

"What strange thought patterns…" Krystal said, trying to penetrate its mind. "It's as if it doesn't have a mind of its own, as though it were merely a drone…" However, it was Peppy who recognized it right away.

"Oh, no. It can't be…" the old hare says, voice full of dread.

"Peppy, what's wrong?" Fox asked.

"Aparoid, Aparoid, Aparoid…"ROB said, repeating the same thing, over and over.

"'Aparoid'?" Fox asked. Then, it lifted its thorax up, and pointed it at the arwings. There was a glowing red gem at the end of it, and the bottom third of the thorax glowed a bright red and yellow, like magma. Then, something like magma erupted out of the end of the thorax. Had not the Star Fox team reacted quick enough, they would have been turned to so much slag. The ground beneath them turned to lava as the molten liquid touched it. The fighters turned to face the Aparoid, and it fired its magma-beam again. However, Krystal noticed something.

"Fox, aim for the open spot on its head!"

"What?"

"Every time that thing attacks, it opens a vulnerable spot on its head! Aim for that!"

"Got it! Cover me!"

"On it!" Falco replied. Falco aimed for one of the orbs with his twin lasers, turning the orb into a fire-ball. Slippy and Krystal got the idea, and followed suit. Fox aimed at the pink sphere that opened up in the abdomen, right where it met the head. The vulpine let loose a hail of green laser fire at it, making cracks appear on its surface. Then, he delivered the coup' de grace, in delivering a nova bomb at the orb. It shattered as the explosion detonated, sending the Aparoid fluttering to the ground as miniature explosions wracked its body. It crashed on the ground, its wings ceased beating as smoke rose from its corpse.

"Yeah, we got it!" Falco cheered.

"But, what a strange creature…" Fox said, almost under his breath. Then, he saw something that caught his eye, as did Peppy. It was cubed shape, nestled within the shattered sphere. It looked like a DNA strand that was twisted into a cube, colored blue and yellow.

"Hey, what's that?" Fox asked.

"I don't believe it. Fox, you have to get that!" Peppy said, excitedly.

"Really? Well, okay." Fox landed his arwing next to the Aparoid corpse, and climbed out. As he climbed atop the body, he reached the shattered sphere, and took the cubed-shape thing from its nest. He looked at it, feeling the thing in his paw. It felt warm and tingly to the touch, as if it were alive with electricity. That's when Falco's voice rang over the comm system.

"Uh guys, I think we got company." he said, looking up. Just above them, a whole swarm of the Aparoids was closing in, looking just like the one that the team just defeated.

"Fox, you have to get out of there, now!" Peppy ordered.

"Right!" Just as Fox made his way off of the corpse, he was mere meters from the arwing when it exploded into metal fragments and flames. Fox was blown back from the force of the explosion, landing on his back.

"Fox, are you alright?" Krystal asked, worry clear in her voice. He sat up, seeing the molten spot where the arwing once was.

"I'm fine, Krystal. Just a little shaken up, that's all."

"Oh, thank the goddess," Krystal replied. "Stay there, I'll be right down." she said. Fox was about to reply, and saw a shadow fall over him. He looked up, and saw the Aparoid descend, and land on the ground on its six segmented legs. It crawled up to him, and reared up on its two rear legs, its wings folded behind it as it threatened to crush him with its immense weight. "FOX!" Krystal shouted when she saw the Aparoid rear up over Fox. He looked up at the arwing that was speeding towards him, knowing it won't make it on time. He closed his eyes, one name going through his mind.

"Krystal…" he uttered. Then, he thought he saw a light through his eyelids, and opened them slightly. He looked above the Aparoid as it was about to land on top of him, and saw the source of the glow. A bright ray of blue/white light came from the sky, and enveloped the Aparoid. It gave a final shriek before turning into ashes in a second. Fox shielded his eyes from the brilliance, and looked up once more when the light died down. He saw what looked like a red sphere of light fall from the sky, then enveloped him a it turned from red to white. He shut his eyes again from the bright light. Then, he felt himself move upward quickly, as if on an elevator. When he felt himself stop, he chanced a peek, and opened his eyes all the way in shock as he looked around. He was high above the ground, that much he knew from the height he was at, and then looked down at his feet. It looked like a hand made of light was holding him up. In fact, it _was_ a hand of light that was holding him up in the air. He looked up, and saw a white form that looked humanoid. Whatever was holding him, had to be around fifty meters in height. When the luminescence died down, he saw who it was that saved him perfectly, and it was a face that he had not seen in over six months that almost made him laugh out loud. The face was silvery and seemed almost like a type of mask with an odd mouthpiece. The eyes were large, and glowed yellow while a type of fin went right through the middle of the 'face', and stuck up on the crown of the head, while rectangular projections protruded from both sides of the head where the ears should be. The rest of the team saw who it was who saved him, and they all felt the same relief course through them, especially Krystal. After all, this was the same person whom she helped on Fortuna what seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Steven…" Fox said as he looked up at the silvery face of the same Ultra who had worked with them some time ago. Shodai nodded in acknowledgement as Fox smiled broadly.

"No way…" Falco said.

"Steven's back!" Slippy shouted, ecstatically. On the Great Fox, Peppy allowed himself to smile as he saw the red and silver giant hold Fox in his hand, while ROB did his usual thing in running scans on Shodai.

"Subject known as Steven, aka Shodai has appeared."

"Thanks for stating the obvious." Peppy said, smiling. On Fortuna, Shodai set Fox down on the ground as gently as he could. Fox stepped off onto the ground, while still looking up at the gigantic being before him. Then, he heard a familiar whooshing sound, and turned to see Krystal's arwing land near him. He ran over to it, and as soon as the cockpit opened, he climbed in behind Krystal. Shodai watched the fighter take off, and when he felt satisfied that it was far enough away, he turned his attention to the swarm before him. He got into a stance, and sent a couple of his infamous 'Shredding Halos' at the shrieking mass above him. The buzz-saws sliced through several of the swarm's number, sending the pieces to the ground. Then, with a loud shout, Shodai was flying through the air, towards the swarm before him. Several of the swarm broke off and started to close in on the red and silver alien. Two of them closed in on him just as Shodai let loose his Slash Beam, the arrow-shaped beam slicing two of the wings off of one of the aparoids, sending it fluttering to the ground. Two more came flying at him, and Shodai reacted with post haste. He sent a fist flying into the face of one of them, shattering the abdomen and the sphere within. He sent a side-kick to the other, knocking several wings off from the impact and cracking the exoskeleton in the process. Another came at him, but Shodai reacted quickly enough as he twisted his body as the Aparoid shot past him. He grabbed it by the wings, and ripped them off of its back. He flung the fluttering corpse to the ground, and faced the oncoming swarm. As he neared the swarm, he fired his Spacium Ray at the center, making a hole right through the middle. He looked back at the arwings behind him, and gestured with his head towards the opening that was beginning to close up. Flying as hard as the arwings would allow, the Star Fox team sped through the window of opportunity just as it closed right behind them. Then, they turned around, and saw the immense mass of the insect-like aliens proceed to the surface of the planet, totally ignoring them. However, it wasn't them that they were worried about.

"What happened to Steven?" Fox asked, just as he looked back. Just then, a part of the mass seemed to bulge outward, then burst just as the red and silver alien being flew through the center of the swarm. As soon as he was free of the swarm, he looked at himself, and saw three of the Aparoids clinging to him. Two were on his shoulders, while another clung to his waist. It looked at right in the eye as it shrieked at him. Shodai reached behind him, and threw one of the Aparoids off of him, sending it hurtling through the sky just before it righted itself, only to be slammed with one of its fellows, sending both to the ground. He was about to pry the one off of his waist, when suddenly it let go, and flew away from him. Shodai dropped his guard slightly, then brought it back up as he saw the thing turn around, and point its abdomen right at him. The jewel at the end glowed, and it fired its magma-stream at him. Shodai brought up his light barrier just in time, the magma-stream splashing harmlessly against the wall of light. Shodai lowered it, and fired his Spacium Ray at it, turning the Aparoid into a fiery explosion. He dropped his pose, and looked down at the ground below him. Most of the swarm had landed already, doing what he already saw coming. He saw them do it before on other worlds besides this one, and it turned his stomach seeing them do it again in this world. He looked back up at the arwings, and nodded, flying up into space with the team following close behind. As they broke the atmosphere, the Great Fox could be sighted. Krystal's arwing surged forward, and wa the first one to land inside of the bay. When the fighter landed, both pilots climbed out of the cockpit, and Fox felt himself get embraced by the blue-furred vixen. She looked up, almost as if on the verge of tears.

"Are you alright?" Fox asked. Krystal nodded.

"I'm really glad that you're alright." she said, embracing him once more. Fox chuckled a bit, and held the vixen close to him for a moment longer. When he saw the other fighters pull in, he pulled away from her. Krystal was puzzled by this, but when she saw the other arwings, she understood perfectly. Falco climbed out of the fighter first, followed by Slippy.

"Man, that was wild. I really thought that this was your last flight, Fox." Falco said, patting his team leader on the shoulder. Slippy moved over to the group as well, and that was when Peppy walked into the hangar to meet the team.

"That was a close one, team. Thank God that you're not hurt."

"Peppy, what was that thing?" Krystal asked. Peppy shook his head ruefully.

"Something that I had hoped wouldn't come back to haunt us.

"That's the thing about cockroaches," a familiar voice said behind Peppy. The elder hare turned around, and saw a very familiar face walk up from behind him, as did everyone else. "They always seem to come back after you exterminate them." Steven, the vulpine form that Shodai took when he was with them last, walked up to the team, wearing a slight smile on his features. "Long time, no see guys." he said. That was when Krystal moved up to him, lightly embracing him. Steven chuckled a bit, and returned it. She pulled away, and he was met with everyone else circling around him. Fox came forward, wearing a grateful look on him.

"I don't know when you got here, but I'm glad that did." He held out his paw, and Steven took it in his own, shaking it. Both vulpines nodded. That was when Peppy spoke up.

"I take it that the Aparoids are what brought you here, Steven." Steven raised an eyebrow.

"So, you know about them." he said, a little bit impressed. Peppy nodded.

"More so than you think."

"Peppy, since you seem to know all about them, don't you think you should let us all in on it?" Fox asked. Peppy nodded.

"Follow me, and I'll tell you everything."

With that, the team and Space Patrol man followed the hare out of the hangar, with the door closing shut behind them.


	2. Assault on Katina

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

Chapter 2

Assault on Katina

The briefing room where the team entered was a large circular room with a round table and a dozen chairs. The team took seats at them, as did Steven, when the holographic projector in the center of the table glowed to life and the disembodied head of General Pepper floated in front of them. The wizened hound looked at the team with a mix of relief, and dismay. "Star Fox, a grave danger is upon us."

"You mean the Aparoids, sir?" Fox asked.

"Exactly. The head of the Science Department will fill you in." Just then, the hound's head was replaced with that of a frog's wearing spectacles and a mustache.

"Hello again, everybody." the frog said, adjusting his glasses. Slippy recognized him right away.

"Dad? _You're_ the research director?" he asked, astonished.

"Of course. Didn't I tell you?" he asked. "Now back to the business at hand. the Aparoids..."

"Aparoids?" Fox asked.

"Yes. they are the enemies that you faced earlier, along with one other being, whom we have yet to identify." That was when Steven stood up.

"I'm afraid that was me that you saw, Mr. Toad." he said. Beltino turned to him.

"Oh? And uh, you are..."

"Call me Steven for now." Just then, General Pepper's head replaced the frog's head.

"Steven? Is that you, my boy?"

"It is, sir."

"I see. then, if _you're_ here, then the situation is more grave than we thought..."

"Depends on how you would define as grave." Steven replied.

"Can we get back on track here?" Falco asked, getting impatient. Beltino Toad's head returned.

"Uh, right. The Aparoids. We have encountered one about seventeen years ago, when a sole Aparoid destroyed nearly an entire fleet."

"A whole fleet, wiped out by just _one_ of those things?" Fox asked. Beltino nodded.

"Yes. We were somehow able to survive that trial. But, that was just a taste of what's coming. We studied the core memory that you found, but we could understand a lot more if we had a complete specimen." General Pepper's head replaced Beltino's.

"Steven, do you have anything to add?" All eyes were focused on the other vulpine. He sighed and stood up.

"The Aparoid that you encountered seventeen years ago was more than likely just a scout for the rest of the swarm. These things have been sighted all over the galaxy, and then some. And, that's not all I'm afraid."

"What do you mean?" Fox asked. Steven sighed, and pulled something out of his pocket It was the communication device that his people use to talk to eachother, as well as access information. He placed it in the center of the table where it levitated a few feet off of the surface in front of everyone. Then, it turned from a diamond shape, to a pinpoint that was shaded a light purple. "What's that?" Fox asked.

"That, is the Lylat system. It's shaded that way because the Aparoids have shown up. And this..." he made an arm gesture, and the pinpoint became dozens, then hundreds, almost filling the whole room. "Is everywhere else where they have been sighted, or where they have assimilated."

"Assimilated what, planets?" Fox asked. Steven shook his head.

"Systems. Whole solar systems." Steven replied.

"You mean...these are..."

"The points that you see are the systems where the Aparoids have either invaded, or assimilated entirely. The systems that they transform has the indigenous population wiped out completely, replacing it with thier own. Trillions of lives have been lost because of them."

"All those lives, all those people, lost. It's just staggering to think how much destruction that they've caused…" Krystal said, looking at all of the pinpoints of lights.

"Wait, what about _you_ guys?" Falco asked, looking at Steven. "Aren't you doing something about this?"

"The Space Garrison is stretched beyond its limit right now dealing with this threat. We've been trying to keep them contained for months. However, they always seem to find a breach. We're lucky that they haven't taken over this system already. If Lylat falls, then they have sure shot all the way to M78. That I _cannot_ allow, no matter the cost. I was sent here because out of all of the other Garrison members, I know this part of space better than most. And it looks like I arrived just in time, more or less."

"You think that they are headed for your homeworld, Steven?" Peppy asked. Steven nodded.

"It would make sense. Out the other life forms that they've encountered so far, we have been the ones putting up a stiff resistance. But, as I've said before, we are stretched thin. It's only a matter of time before we eventually snap. They must be stopped _here_, no matter what." Steven said, emphasizing the word here by slamming his fist down on the table. The action startled the team members a bit, and Steven looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. It's been awhile since I've actually rested. I have been fighting these things almost non-stop for months alongside my comrades. And every time we fight them, we're either falling back, or losing."

"Don't beat yourself up over this, Steven. We all understand, and that's why these bugs aren't getting any further than this." Fox said, putting a hand on Steven's shoulder. Steven nodded.

"In any case, I have a new assignment for you." General Pepper said. All eyes were focused on him now. "We have been getting some strange readings from the Katina outpost, but we've been unable to raise anyone there. We suspect Aparoid involvement, but can't be too sure. I want you down there right away to check the area out, and report back to me."

"Right, General." Pepper's disembodied head disappeared, and Fox turned to face his team. "Alright guys, here's what's going to happen. I'll go down to the surface and see if I can't find anyone, while you cover me from the air."

"Going down alone? It's too dangerous. I'll go too." Krystal said. Fox shook his head.

"No. I need you guys to cover me in arwings in case anything happens. Alright, let's head out." Several minutes later saw the team in the hangar bay, already in their arwings. Peppy, Steven, and ROB were in the command head when the Great Fox warped into Katina's orbit. Then, the four arwings launched out of the ship, and headed for the surface of the planet. In moments, Fox landed his arwing just outside of the base, while the other three fighters patrolled the air. It was then that Falco noticed it.

"Hey, where's Steven at?" he asked. Steven's voice rang over the intercom.

"I'm holding back until you need me. No sense in having a fifty meter tall entity running amok while trying to find survivors, right?"

"For once, you make sense, Stevey." On the ship, Steven raise an eyebrow in puzzlement.

"'Stevey'?" he asked out loud. Peppy only chuckled while Steven mentally noted to add Falco as one of the casualties. As Fox entered the gate, he noticed how unnaturally still everything was. The only sound was the wind whipping around, the only movement was the dust that was disturbed.

"It's quiet. Too quiet." he said, pulling out his blaster. What he failed to notice, was the sensor at the gate that went off when he entered. Right behind him, the gate slammed shut, sealing him inside. "A trap!" he shouted. Then, all around him, several dozen shapes fell from the tops of the structures, surrounding him. They looked like some type of metallic insect with a single eye in the front. "It was the Aparoids after all." he said as one dropped right in front of him. It reared up and shrieked into the sky. Fox trained his blaster on it and fired. The emerald shots took off a leg and its head as it fell down, dead. He bolted past the group just as they were beginning to converge on him. All around him, more Aparoids appeared and cut off his route of escape. He ducked behind a corner, the Aparoids closing in on him. "There's just no end to these things." He brought up his wrist communicator to his face. "Peppy, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Fox. How are things down there?" Peppy replied.

"Well, I got my hands full. But what else is new?" he asked, shrugging. "Send a Landmaster down here, will ya?"

"Hey, Fox, if you ever get lonely, just give me a call. I'll come down and join ya." Falco said over the p.a. system.

"Nah. All I need is the Landmaster." Fox replied.

"Here's the Landmaster, Fox." A few meters away from him, the Landmaster tank materialized. It was a four-wheeled vehicle with a single turret and cannon on top, the hull of the vehicle was a shiny chromed silver, and the aparoids took notice of it as they started to swarm around it. Fox saw this and sighed.

"Great. Good to know that the guidance system is still as sterling as ever." Fox said. He ran towards the swarm, and pulled his blaster out. He trained it on the nearest Aparoid, and blasted at it, turning it into fragments in moments. He aimed at another, and fired, killing it as well. He jumped atop the tank, and got into the hold. He started it up just as he closed the hatch. An Aparoid crawled on top and began to scratch at the hatch, hoping to tear its way in. Fox started up the tank, and gunned the engine, making it surge forward. The sudden movement knocked the Aparoids away from the tank, and crushed the ones that were in front. The Landmaster rolled into the open, right in the middle of the Aparoid swarm. The Aparoids began to converge on the tank, but Fox wasn't worried. In the tank, he felt secure, and dangerous. The turret automatically locked onto an Aparoid, and Fox fired, turning it into a charred spot on the ground. He fired at another, and another, turning each Aparoid into a memory. Despite being more at home in an arwing, Fox did admit that the Landmaster was pretty fun, especially when he was playing pest exterminator. He gunned the engines again and bowled over more Aparoids, crushing them under the weight of the tank. Fox turned the tank around and moved the turret skywards. There, he saw three arwings in an aerial duel with a swarm of airborne Aparoids. He saw one was chasing Slippy, and sure enough Slippy's voice wailed over the intercom, pleading for him to save him. Fox took aim, and fired a charged-shot at the Aparoid, turning it into flaming fragments. He fired at another, and another, each shot killing an Aparoid. He turned his attention to the ground before him and fired at more of the crawling things, destroying each one promptly. After taking aim again, he fired a nova-bomb which decimated the crawling swarm before him. Satisfied, he moved the tank forward while the arwings took care of things in the air. And that's when they came down; floating to the ground like dandelion seeds, several dozen of circular objects a couple meters in diameter touched down on the surface, their three legs digging into the ground and the structures that they clung to.

"What's that?" Fox asked.

"This is bad. Our sensors tell us that those things can spawn more Aparoids." Peppy replied over the intercom. Fox growled in frustration as he saw the objects began to glow at the center as soon as the landed. He took aim at one, and fired. After two shots, it was a memory. He took aim at another and did the same thing. However, the others began to produce more Aparoids, and the offspring began to target Fox. Fox ignored them as he gunned the tank forward, still crushing them underfoot. He took aim at one of the hatchers and fired again. He aimed at two that were attached to the side of the building several meters away and fired, destroying both almost simultaneously. In the air, the battle was more or less confusion. Although grossly outnumbered, the team has faced grim odds before. They weaved and flew around the slower fliers with almost ridiculous ease and fired at them with precision. Falco was tailing one, and fired at it, destroying it. Krystal snuck up on two and let loose a nova-bomb, destroying the pair in one swoop. Even Slippy got his shots in. He fired at a couple of them, though he was missing mostly until he nailed them dead center, reducing them to flaming pieces that fell to the ground. Slowly, the Aparoids' numbers began to dwindle. Fox took notice of this and smiled. His navi-computer noted that there were still some hatchers left, but that they were _inside _of the complex. Fox let out a groan at the turn of events. With Aparoids closing in on him from almost every angle, the vulpine loathed getting out of the relative safety of the tank. Parking in front of the entrance of the building so the Aparoids wouldn't follow him, Fox jumped out and made his way to the interior of the building. His portable navi-computer guided him through a maze of hallways, not running into any problems, at least so far he hasn't. However, even Fox knew that his luck couldn't hold out forever. And sure enough, when he rounded a corner, he ran almost face-first into an Aparoid that looked right at him with its single eye. Fox doubled back from surprise, then brought up his blaster and fired. The Aparoid blew apart, only to have two more take its place. Fox looked behind them, and saw the Aparoid hatchers spawning several more. Fox reached behind him, and pulled out a round object. He tapped it, and threw it at the group, the ball started to tick. It landed behind the two Aparoids, and Fox made a hasty getaway. The Aparoids turned their attention from the fleeing vulpine to the new item that he had left, and the ticking sped up. One looked at it curiously for a second, then the item detonated, taking with it the aparoids, the hatcher, and leaving the room and most of the hallway a charred black color. When Fox heard the boom, he jumped into his tank and put it in reverse, knocking the Aparoids that were behind him away, or just crushing them. His navi-computer showed that the hatchers were gone, and he sighed in relief. The Aparoids in the air were all but destroyed, while the ones on the ground began to retreat.

"Well, looks like we got 'em all…" Fox said as he saw the Aparoids begin to turn tail and run. From the Great Fox, Steven and Peppy watched the scene from the main monitor on the ship. However, both were anything _but_ relieved by this turn of events, especially Steven. He knew that they were up to something. However, on the planet, the pilots saw the retreat, and felt relief course through them.

"Alright, look at 'em scatter!" Falco said. Slippy let out a whoop.

"We did it, Fox. We have them on the run!" Krystal said.

"Yeah, looks like we do…" Fox replied. Just then, he saw the reason why the Aparoids were retreating; from above them, a bunch of hexagonal shapes forming a circle appeared, and a beam of light came from them, bringing with it something massive. When the light died, it was seen clearly. It was gigantic, standing at a height of sixty meters on six long legs while the body was round, almost saucer-shaped with two pink orbs both above and below it. It was covered in a violet-hughed exoskeleton that was shiny and metallic in texture.

"That thing is big. And ugly." Falco said when he saw it.

"So, the leader huh?" Fox asked. Krystal saw it, and something else as well.

"Fox, that thing has a core memory!" Fox looked atop, and saw the pinkish orb as well that held the core memory.

"You heard the lady, Fox. You gotta get that core memory!"

"Great. So am I supposed to get up there?" he asked aloud. The giant Aparoid took notice of him, and it seemed to lean forward to inspect him. However, top of the Aparoid began to glow a deep green, and several projectiles shot out from the back, all aimed at the Landmaster. Fox acted quickly and gunned the tank forward, the attack missing him just by a hair. He rolled under the giant Aparoid, and took notice of the shining pink orb that was just underneath. He aimed the turret, and fired. Several emerald shots struck the orb, and the Aparoid shuddered and let out a metallic groan. Satisfied with the results he got, Fox continued to fire at the Aparoid, eventually making it fall forward. He got out from under it, and switched on the thrusters underneath the tank. The jet thrusters levitated the tank upward, and he landed on the top of the Aparoid. When he saw the core memory, he felt the Aparoid lurch forward, and begin to rise. Having shaken off the shock of the attack, the Aparoid began to lurch and buck, trying to dislodge the stubborn thing that was on top of it. However, Fox endured the sudden movements and took aim at the core memory inside of the orb and fired. After several shots, the orb began to crack, and the Aparoid was beginning to feel it. Suddenly, the Landmaster was flung off of the Aparoid and crashed to the ground. Fox banged his head against the consol and his vision swam. Krystal's voice was heard over the intercom, but it seemed slurred and nonsensical. Then, it became clearer and clearer and turned to crystal clarity.

"Fox! Are you alright? Fox get out of there! That thing is right above you, Fox Respond!" Fox looked at the main monitor, and saw the Aparoid looking over him. He tried to get the tank to move, but it wouldn't go. He noticed the hatch open, and crawled out. He saw the tank was on its side and saw the leg that was raised come crashing down on the tank, turning it into an explosion of metal debris and smoke. Fox looked up, and saw the head of the Aparoid look directly at him. It raised its leg again, and poised it over the vulpine before sending it crashing down. Krystal saw this and felt her breath catch in her throat. However she saw a form running across the ground and knew that it was Fox. The Aparoid also took notice of this and followed him. Fox looked back, and ducked behind a building. He pulled his wrist communicator to his face, keying the Great Fox.

"Peppy, I got a problem here!"

"Don't worry Fox, help is on the way!"

"What? What the heck're you…" He heard something smash itself against the side of the building and felt rubble fall. He looked up and saw the giant Aparoid begin to tear itself through the building to get to him. A leg erupted out of the side of the building, just above Fox's head. The vulpine dove forward, and saw the Aparoid come out of the dust and debris. It raised its appendage again, and brought it down just inches from Fox's head. All Fox could do was look up in shock as the Aparoid seemed to freeze, and looked behind him. What he saw made his heart skip; a silver hand grabbed the appendage and held it in place. Steven, now in his Ultra form as Shodai, shoved the Aparoid away from the vulpine. The giant insect-like thing stumbled back away from the pair as Shodai got between Fox and the Aparoid and took up a combat stance. Shodai looked behind him, and nodded at Fox. Fox returned the gesture and ran away from the two. When he felt sure enough, he brought up his communicator. "Peppy, send me an arwing!"

"On its way, Fox." Peppy said. Sure enough, the fighter materialized almost next to him this time. The vulpine jumped in, and the arwing soared to the sky to see the two giants having a stand-off. Shodai and the Aparoid circled eachother, waiting for the other to make a move. It was the Ultra who acted first. He ran at the Aparoid and leapt into the air. He executed an aerial axel, which ended in a flying kick right at the thing. He struck the flat surface and the Aparoid skidded back, but the exoskeleton held. Shodai jumped off of the Aparoid and barely reacted in time when it charged at him. He put his arms up to guard, but the force of the blow sent him to the ground with the Aparoid right in top of him. It raised its two front appendages and brought them down. Shodai caught them in his hands just before they could come down. Groaning with effort, the Space Patrol man pushed up, and kicked with his leg, forcing the Aparoid off of him. Shodai got back on his feet and jumped on top of the Aparoid. He grabbed the orb that held the core memory and tried to wrench it off of the body. However, the Aparoid gave a might heave and the red and silver warrior was flung off of the back of the Aparoid. Shodai looked up in time to get his silvery face bashed by an appendage. His vision swam from the blow and the right side of his face felt numb for an instant before pain replaced it. He looked up to see the leg that was right above his head. Just before it could fall, several explosions erupted from the back of the Aparoid. It gave a loud groan of pain as two arwings flew overhead. Fox looked down and grinned, saluting the red and silver alien. Shodai nodded, and balled his hand into a knotty fist. He swung up, striking the pink orb underneath. It cracked and the Aparoid was lifted several meters off of the ground before slumping to the ground. It tried to stand back up, but Shodai placed a well-aimed kick to its head, making it flip over onto its back. He jumped on top of it, and rained down punches to the orb, the hammer-like blows making the cracks grow, until it finally shattered. The Aparoid gave a bellow of pain. Shodai jumped off, and reached underneath the massive body of the Aparoid. With a grunt of effort, he lifted the body clean over him. He turned around, and threw it several hundred meters away where it fell to the ground, breaking off an appendage and cracking the violet-hughed exoskeleton in various places along the body. It uneasily got back to its feet, trying to balance on three legs. Shodai crouched slightly, then let loose a Shredding Halo, the energy buzz-saw hummed its way to the core memory. It severed the sphere from the main body, sending it flying away several meters. Then, he placed his arms in a plus shape and fired his Spacium Ray. It struck the head of the Aparoid, and the head exploded, followed by several explosions along the main body. With another bellow, the Aparoid fell to the ground, dead. Shodai's warning light was going off at a steady pace. He saw the pinkish orb and walked towards it. From overhead, Fox and the others could see the core memory in his hand. Shodai looked up at Fox and raised his hand slightly in a gesture. Fox nodded and landed his arwing close to the giant. Shodai turned to the vulpine walking towards him and knelt down to a knee, his hand lowered to the ground.

"I see what you mean by 'help', Peppy." Fox said as he made his way towards the red and silver giant. He looked at his communicator, and noticed something. "Hey, it looks like that signal is no longer transmitting…"

"I don't like that." Peppy said. Then, another voice rang through the communicator.

"Hoo ha ha ha! Thanks for helping me out!" It was deep, almost guttural and had a tone that seemed to indicate greed. Fox recognized it right away.

"Pigma Dengar?" he asked, astonished. He looked up, and sure enough, Pigma's ship was floating just above them. Shodai saw it, and tensed.

"Long time, no see Fox. "The distress signal, that was you?" Fox asked. Pigma laughed in response.

"Since I'm here, I'll just help myself to this!" Pigma's capture beam locked onto the core memory in Shodai's hand. However, before the core memory could move, Shodai closed his hand around it. He rose up, looking at Pigma right in the face as he floated right in front of him. However, Pigma seemed undeterred. "Tough guy, eh? Well, how's a bout a little light on the subject, 'bright eyes'?" Just then, something fired from in front of Pigma's ship, and it detonated in front of him, casting a bright glare in the Ultra's face. Shodai threw his arms up in front of his eyes in response, dropping the core memory in the process.

"Steven!" Fox shouted. Pigma collected it via the capture beam while the Ultra stumbled around, his eyes at his hands as he tried to rub them to get them to clear. "Smell ya, later!" Pigma called as he gunned his ship towards the atmosphere.

"Pigma, stop!" Fox shouted. Shodai looked up, and with a shout of his own, he followed the ship. Pigma, however, noticed this.

"So, you haven't learned from the last time, eh? Well, hopefully this time you will get the message, 'bright boy'! He hoo har!" Pigma fired another flare at the Ultra that was pursuing him. This time, it detonated right in his face. Shodai gave a yell of pain, and fell from the sky like a stone.

"Steven!" Krystal called. The red and silver alien crashed to the ground, holding his face while groaning from the pain in his eyes. Then, he vanished. Fox ran out towards his last position to see Steven stumbling around, his arms outstretched and his eyes shut tight. Fox ran over to him, taking him by the arm.

"Steven, are you alright?" Fox asked.

"Fox? I…I can't see, Fox…I can't see…" Fox saw how tightly his eyes were shut and the tears that came from them.

"It'll be alright, Steven. We'll get you back to the Great Fox, and get you fixed up." Both vulpines made their way to the arwing, one being led by the other with his hand on the other's shoulder.


	3. Wild Hog Chase, pt1

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

Chapter 3

Wild Hog Chase, pt.1

As Steven sat in the infirmary on the medical bed, ROB was standing by a console going over the data that scrolled down the screen faster than any organic life-form could hope to match. The red vulpine had a dark shades over his eyes, to help dim the lights that were in the medical bay. Fox popped in, followed by Krystal to see how their friend was doing. Not long after Steven/Shodai was blinded by Pigma Dengar, the Ultra/vulpine was rushed to the med-bay for medical attention. "Well, Steven, what's the diagnosis?" Fox asked. Steven's ear twitched a bit, and he turned to face the pair. He removed the shades, and squinted slightly in the light, before opening them completely.

"Well, all things considered, I'm just fine." he replied.

"Really? After taking two flares in the face like that?" Krystal asked, seeing the green eyes again.

"My kind can heal faster than yours can, remember. This type of thing won't hinder me for long," Steven turned away, looking out of the viewport. "But apparently just enough to let Pigma get away…" he said, dismally.

"Don't worry about it, Steven. We'll find Pigma soon, and then we can end this crisis." Fox said. As both got ready to leave, Krystal hung back. Steven noticed this, and looked up.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"That message, that you sent to my home world. Did they get it?" Steven raised an eyebrow in puzzlement, while Krystal tried to recover the situation.

"I'm sorry. It's probably an inappropriate time, but I just wanted…"

"They said, that you should visit them sometime." Steven replied, cutting her off.

"Wh-what?" the vixen asked. Steven smiled.

"Your race, your family, wanted me to send a message back to you. They said that you should visit them sometime. I nearly forgot since the Aparoid business began." Krystal felt choked up from this, and Steven saw evidence of tears forming in her eyes. Then, something struck her.

"Cerinia, they didn't get…you know." she asked, fearful of the answer. Steven shook his head.

"No, the Aparoids have not been sighted in, or near Cerinia. However, once they started the out break, I asked a few close friends of mine to watch over the system until the whole thing blows over. Trust me, your race is in good hands." the vulpine assured her. He can see the relief visibly course through her when she heard this, and Steven's smile got wider. Steven got up, and Krystal embraced him tightly.

"Thank you, for everything." she said, looking up at him. Steven nodded, not losing his smile. Then, both figures walked out of the med-bay and to the command head of the Great Fox. When they entered the bridge, there was a picture of a decrepit looking station spinning lazily in space.

"Curse you, Pigma! Why'd you run to such a vile place?" Peppy almost shouted.

"What's going on?" Steven asked. All eyes were focused on him and Krystal as they joined the group.

"We tracked Pigma's signal, and it lead to Sargasso Station." Fox explained.

"Sargasso Station?" Steven asked.

"This place is supposed to be a hideout for all sorts of criminals." Slippy said, shuddering in fear.

"On top of that, this is also the home of…"

"Don't you idiots know? This is part of Lord O'Donnell's territory!" a voice said, cutting Fox off mid-sentence.

"Hey! Who let you in?" Falco asked. The image on the screen was replaced with one of a simian in a grey uniform with a red visor, arms folded across his chest. It was Fox who addressed him first.

"We're the Star Fox team. We're here for a hog named Pigma. We don't want trouble."

"We don't know about Pigma, or any other fool. But, now that we know you're Star Fox we're not gonna let you go, either!" the ruffian replied. "C'mon you lazy scum! Let's skin this fox and his whole crew! Get some more guys up here, let's go!" The Ruffian signed off, leaving the team in momentary silence. It was Slippy who broke that silence as he held his PAD up.

"I just got a message from my dad about the core memory that Pigma stole. He says that it might contain the location of the Aparoid homeworld!"

"We have to get that core back no matter what, then." Steven said.

"Gateway initiation detected. Enemy force increasing." ROB said in his monotone voice. The screen shifted to the view outside, where more than a dozen ships appeared between the Star Fox team, and Sargasso Station.

"So, he's got an army of his own, has he?" Peppy mused. "That's probably where Oikonny got his forces from in the first place."

"Then, why didn't we see Star Wolf with them?" Slippy asked.

"Maybe because he saw that it was a fool's errand." Fox replied.

"Star Wolf?" Steven asked.

"Our rivals." Fox replied.

"Think of them as the exact polar opposites of us." Falco added. "And their leader has a grudge against Fox."

"Really?" Steven asked, turning to Fox who shrugged in response. "Well, we have no time for a grudge match. If what Beltino said is at all true, then we have to find Pigma, and the core memory, with post haste."

"Do you not notice the enemy armada in front of you?" Falco pointed out, gesturing to the screen in front of them. Steven regarded it for a moment, then turned back to the avian.

"I can deal with them with my eyes closed." Steven replied. "Give me five minutes, and I'll have the armada wiped out, and the station turned to so much scrap."

"Even if we pound 'em, it'll be a war of attrition." Fox said.

"We have no time. We need to find the core memory now, before anymore lives are lost!" Steven argued.

"Right, but…"

"Just what do you idiots think you're doing?" a voice growled over the comms. Fox recognized it right away.

"Wolf…" On the screen, three ships flew out from behind the armada of battleships. They were red and silver, dagger-shaped and had four wings. These were the wolfen, the main fighters of the Star Wolf mercenary team. The lupine and his team flew around the Great Fox.

"You're on my turf now. Watch…your…step…Fox." the leader said, punctuating each word.

"We're just here for Pigma, okay? Just shut your traps and hand him over!" Fox said.

"Pigma? Don't know anything about Pigma. But I'm owed an apology, Fox, and I WILL have it!"

"That's it!" Falco shouted as he stormed out of the bridge.

"Where you going?" Steven asked.

"I'm going Wolf hunting, that's where!" he replied over his shoulder. He was joined by the rest of the team, save for Steven and Peppy. The four arwings shot out of the hangar not long after, and the space battle began. Even though the Star Wolf team was outnumbered four to three, they were able to hold their own. In fact, Slippy got downed within the first few minutes of fighting by Leon, the reptilian ace of the team. The crippled ship limped back to the Great Fox, while the rest continued the space war. Fox traded fire with Wolf, both juking and dodging eachother in a dance to the death. Falco was evading Leon, the avian barrel-rolling every few moments to deflect oncoming laser fire. However, it was Krystal who probably had the strangest encounter.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Panther, and all who see my rose, meet death." Krystal rolled her eyes as she rolled her arwing out of the way of oncoming laser fire. "And what may your name be?" the feline asked.

"Krystal." the vixen replied curtly.

"Ah, the lovely Krystal. Words do you no justice. Here's to us." Panther let out a soft growl that seemed to border-line a purr that made Krystal let out an audible groan of derision. All the while, Panther pursued Krystal while she evaded him. "Slippery little fox, aren't we?" Panther purred. Just then, Krystal cut her engines, making Panther's wolfen shoot right past her. The feline looked back in time to see a nova bomb detonate behind him, tearing a wing and a half off.

"You don't know the half of it." Krystal replied.

"Well played, dear Krystal. But, this little game is far from over." All the while, Steven and Peppy watched the battle unfold from the Great Fox.

"I don't have time for this." Steven said as he stormed out of the bridge.

"Where are you going?" Peppy asked.

"I'm going to settle this, once and for all! We don't have time to be playing games like this." Steven replied. Peppy sighed as he turned his attention back to the view screen which showed the dogfight between Star Fox and Star Wolf. The battle ships were keeping their distance from the fighting, as if they were spectators watching a fight. In fact, all traffic seemed to grind to a dead halt since the two rival teams started fighting, not that either side seemed to notice, nor to care, for that matter. However, something was about to happen that will catch their undivided attention. It was Fox and Wolf who noticed it first, as their fighters abruptly lost power and were floating, dead in space.

"Hey, what just happened?" Fox said, trying to start his fighter back up, but no such luck.

"My wolfen! Why won't it start?" Wolf nearly shouted as his fighter also refused to come to life.

"Fox, what's happening? The arwings are just floating around." Peppy's voice sounded through the vulpine's head-set.

"What? You mean _all_ four arwings out of action?" Fox asked in disbelief.

"You guys aren't the only ones." a voice growled over his head-set. "What have you done to our wolfen, Fox?" Wolf demanded.

"It's not me, Wolf. Something else is going on here!" Fox's head-set was alive with chatter as the pilots tried to get their fighters started up, but couldn't.

"Uhm, Fox?"

"Yeah, Peppy?"

"I think I might know what happened."

"What's up?"

"I did." Another voice said. Just then, Shodai floated in between the fighters, his red and silvery form in his fourty meter tall height.

"Steven." Fox said.

"We don't have time to waste on pathetic games. We are on urgent business, and we need to get back on track immediately!"

"Fox, who or what is that?" Wolf asked, looking at the red and silver being.

"A friend. He's right. Just hand over Pigma, and we'll go." Fox said.

"Pigma is no longer part of Star Wolf, and if he showed his filthy hide here, my men would've driven him out." Wolf replied.

"What?" Fox asked.

"Then, where did Pigma go?" Krystal asked.

"Ah, Lady Krystal, I cannot resist seeing you in such a bewildered state. I will show you where Pigma might have gone. But, you will owe me."

"What? Who's this idiot?" Falco asked.

"Quiet, bird." Panther growled.

"What was that?" Falco challenged.

"Forget him, just tell us where Pigma is, and I will give you something in return." Krystal agreed, though the idea turned her stomach.

"How can I resist? I believe the com record will point you to Fichina." Panther purred.

"Thank you." Krystal said.

"Remember; you owe me, and I will collect." Panther said.

'Just you try it, Panther,' Fox mentally noted. Krystal felt this through her telepathy, and decided to try to smooth his ruffled fur when they got back on the ship.

"You talk to much…" Wolf said.

"Alright, Steven, you can let us go now." Fox said. Shodai nodded, and with a wave of his hand the fighters started up again. Star Wolf formed up in front of Star Fox and Shodai. Wolf regarded the giant alien being for a moment, then turned to his team.

"Panther, Leon, let's go!" The wolfen flew past the group, and headed for parts unknown.

"Okay, team. Let's head back." The four fighters and one Ultra flew for the Great Fox. When the fighters landed, Krystal looked at Fox, who seemed to regard her for a moment before turning away and heading for the command bridge.

"Fox, wait, let me explain." she said, catching up to the vulpine.

"What is there to explain?" Fox asked. "You promised him something, and one day he will be here to collect." Fox stated plainly. However, Krystal knew what was behind the voice.

"It's not like that. I'd never do that to you, not with the way you feel about me." Fox whirled to face Krystal, who looked right at Fox in the eye. "I know what it is that you feel." she said. Fox only stared at her while she kept her gaze on him. She chuckled a bit before responding. "Did you forget that I'm a telepath, Fox? I can read your mind, and your emotions. And, I'd like to talk to you about it, about…us." she said before walking towards the command head. Fox followed her immediately after.


	4. Wild Hog Chase, pt2

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

Chapter 4

Wild Hog Chase, pt.2

"We have arrived at Fichina." ROB stated.

"So, Fichina huh? That's just great. Nothing there but snow and ice." Falco commented when he saw the image of the snow-white and ice-blue planet.

"Uh-huh. But since the building of the climate control center, the planet became inhabitable." Fox commented when the image turned to a picture of a dome-like structure with an energy field around it. The team was gathered in the command head when the Great Fox neared the planet, upon the tip they received from the Star Wolf team not too long ago. It was then that Peppy spoke up.

"We got a crisis team. The climate control center's...well it's been out of order for quite a while."

"What do you mean, Pep?" Fox asked.

"There's a huge blizzard that's raging over more than half the planet, and it's originating at the climate control center." the hare said when the screen switched to a meteorological map of the planet, showing a massive cold-front sweeping over the planet. "If the blizzard keeps up, the planet will once again become barren."

"I wonder if this is Pigma's work. Could he be...laying a trap?" Krystal wondered.

"Oh, we can't fly our arwings in this weather." Slippy moaned.

"What about you, Steven?" Fox asked, turning to the other vulpine's direction. Steven gave him a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You think you can work down there?" Falco asked. Steven took another look at the image, then shook his head.

"Sorry, but I don't I can work very well in that kind of weather."

"What? What do you mean?" Falco nearly shouted. Steven almost looked ashamed.

"It's humiliating of me to say this, but one of the few weaknesses my kind has is extreme cold. We need a strong light and heat source to sustain ourselves, after all. Put us in this kind of environment, and we won't last long in our Ultra forms." Steven said.

"Seriously? So your secret weakness is extreme cold?" Falco asked incredulously. "Dude, I was starting to think you were invincible!"

"That's enough Falco!" Krystal snapped. She saw the ashamed look on Steven's face, and tried to console him. "Don't worry about it, Steven. Like you, not _everyone_ likes the cold." she said, shooting Falco an icy glare. Falco shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm no fan of it either. It's just that _he's_ supposed to be this all powerful being, and yet he's stopped by a little bit of snow." he said.

"Getting back on track here," Peppy said, clearing his voice first to get everyone's attention. "We need someone to go down there and start the generator back up."

"I'll see If I can reach the control center. I get to that, I can get the Control Center up and running again, and we should be okay."

"Playing the hero again, Foxie? Hey, more power to ya, buddy. Me, I hate the cold." Falco commented.

"Brrrrr, it makes me want to hibernate." Slippy said, shivering visibly.

"I'll go with you." Steven said, catching everyone off guard.

"Whoa, whoa. I thought that you said you couldn't take the cold." Falco said.

"In my Ultra form, I can't handle it very well. However, in my guise as a Lylan, I should be able to take it as well as you guys." Steven said. Fox nodded.

"Alright, both me and Steven will head down to the control center. You guys wait up here for the go ahead to launch."

"It's up to you two. I'll make sure that the rest of us are ready to launch at any time." Peppy said. Fox and Steven nodded as they left for the hangar.

Half an hour later: Fox and Steven were standing on a snowy rise overlooking the Climate Control Center. Fox had the binoculars while Steven, dressed in the same gear as Fox was, was keeping a sharp eye on the center itself, using his Ultra senses to try and peer inside. "ROB, try to scan the Control Center." Fox said, still looking through the binoculars. Through them, Fox could see a type of energy field surrounding the Center like a barrier.

"The Climate Control Center is protected by a shield. Unable to scan interior." ROB said in his monotone voice.

"I can't get through, either. The barrier is obstructing my vision." Steven commented.

"Hmmmm, we need to turn that shield off before we can get in." Peppy mused. "Alright. Fox, Steven, you two will have to attack the generators directly."

"On it, Peppy. We'll have them down and out in no time." Fox said, lowering the binoculars.

"Don't go overboard, Fox." Peppy cautioned.

"It's under control." Fox replied, though Steven wondered what would be considered 'overboard' in this case.

"Then get going and do it! We're just spinning our wheels here!"

"Be careful what you wish for, Falco." Fox said, turning off his communicator and putting the binoculars away. He looked at Steven, and both nodded at eachother before heading down the slope of the rise. Fox caught sight of the first generator; sitting atop a spire that was almost covered in ice, the diamond-shaped power source spun around in its icy sheath. When both of the vulpines were at the base of the spire, Steven could see that the structure stood at around thirty meters, almost as tall as him when in his Ultra form!

"How are we going to reach that?" Steven asked out loud.

"Like so." Fox replied, pulling a grenade from behind himself. He threw it at the power source, where it detonated right beneath it, instantly destroying it. The Spire began to emit a low audible whirring sound, as if it just lost power, which is most likely since the generator was destroyed. Steven looked in Fox's direction when he started to move towards the next shield generator, with Steven close behind him. Fox looked behind him, and saw that the other vulpine had his arms wrapped around his body and started to shiver a bit. "Hey Steven, are you alright?" Fox asked. The other vulpine looked up, his voice sounding slightly shaky.

"The sooner we leave this damned ice-cube, the better off I'll be." Steven replied. Fox laughed a bit at the remark.

"I hear you. I guess being a super-evolved being does have its draw-backs, after all."

"You say that, _and_ you stand there without showing any hint of the cold reaching you!" Steven almost exclaimed. "There are times when I envy you. You weren't born in a world where there is no winter, nor snow or ice."

"Just hold on. Once we get the generators down, we'll be able to get inside the center where it'll be warmer for you."

"That's just dandy. How many of them are there?" Steven asked.

"Four, and we just took down one."

"So, just three left?" Steven said, thinking. "Where are they at?"

"Here, I'll give you the info." Fox raised his communicator, and hooked it up to Steven's. It downloaded the data to Steven's device, and when the download was complete Fox pulled away.

"Thanks. We'll split up, and get done all the more sooner."

"Good idea. See you in a few." As Fox went in one direction, Steven went in another. Following the coordinates on is navi, Steven found the other generator. Using the same technique as Fox, the grenade detonated right beneath the power source, and the spire lost its power. However, despite how well things were going, Steven could not shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Fox got done with his own generator, and met up with Steven right before he disabled the last remaining one. After Fox chucked his grenade at it, the shield surrounding the Control Center dissipated. The journey to the Climate Control Center wasn't very long, at least not to Fox, but to Steven, who was being tortured in the low temperature, it seemed to take forever. Upon reaching the entrance to the Climate Control Center, Steven felt the change in temperature instantly, feeling the warmth as soon as he stepped inside the structure.

"Feeling better?" Fox asked. Steven nodded.

"Little bit." he replied.

"Great. I'll get to work on the generator and get things up and running again." As Fox moved towards the console, Steven spoke up.

"Fox, wait!"

"What's wrong?"

"Something isn't right here."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. We took down those generators much too easily. If Pigma were here, or if there were any Aparoids about, why haven't we seen any trace of them around here?"

"What are you getting at?" Fox asked.

"I think we're being set up. This whole thing reeks of a trap." Steven replied. Fox seemed to consider. It _was_ easy taking out those shield generators, maybe _too_ easy. If Aparoids were sighted here, along with Pigma, then where were they? Nevertheless, he still had to put the Climate Control back in order. After reaching the console, he typed in a set of commands, and the positive beep seemed to assure him, along with the female computer voice.

"Control settings confirmed. Beginning adjustments." On the Outside, the blizzard was slowly dissipating until all that was left was a slight stirring of the loose snow on the frozen ground. From the Great Fox, the meteorological map of the planet showed the blizzard that was covering the surface was beginning to disappear.

"Woo-hoo! That's the end of the blizzard!" Slippy cheered.

"You did it, Fox!" Krystal added. When she heard no reply, she grew puzzled. "Fox? Steven?"

"What's wrong, Fox? Respond!" Falco urged. Inside the Control Center, Fox stumbled back as Steven pulled out the sidearm that Fox had given him on the Great Fox, taking aim at something that was coming towards them from the shadows.

"Quit yelling, Falco, we're fine." Fox replied. "Just a little hitch in the plan." Fox ducked as a laser blast scorched the panel behind him as a dozen mechanical figures made their way towards them as Steven open fired upon them. They stood at about shoulder level to the vulpines, having what looked like wings folded behind them, their rectangular bodies hovering closer to them. Fox pulled out his blaster as they came closer. "Must have been an I.D. problem; the sentry bots have taken a liking to us."

"Must've been Pigma's work. Gah, I'll be right down, hold on!" Falco said as he started to bolt for the hangar.

"Yeah, could you hurry?" Fox asked before signing off. Steven looked behind him at Fox.

"What'd I say? It was too easy! I've been working at this for too long to not smell a trap!"

"Yeah, well, just concentrate on these guys for now!" Fox said, aiming at a sentry bot and firing. With the 'wings' closed, they served as a type of shield to protect them. The blaster was only deflected off of the body. Steven was having the same problem, and barely rolled out of the way as two of them opened their 'wings', and lunged, the appendages acting like claws.

"Damn! Alright, you asked for it!" Steven said as he pulled out his beta capsule. He pressed the switch, and a brilliant flash filled the room. When the flash died and Fox no longer needed to cover his eyes, he saw that Shodai was standing where Steven was, his red and silver form bristled with power as he struck his battle pose. He sent a shredding halo at a couple of the sentry bots, slicing them in half. He turned his attention to two more coming at him to his left, and leapt at them. He landed on one, crushing the top of it with his left knee, and threw a punch at the other one, his fist exploding out the other side with a mix of wires and oil. Wrenching his fist free, Shodai threw the dead body of the sentry bot at the others, where it exploded and took two more with it. Just then, both Ultra and vulpine heard a high-pitched whining sound, like the kind made by an arwing. Just then, Falco's arwing crashed through the roof and landed, crushing more of the sentry bots under its bulk.

"Wow. That was a flashy entrance." Fox commented, smirking.

"Quit complaining and get on, will ya?" Falco urged as more of the sentry bots began to swarm around them. Wasting no time, Fox jumped onto the wing of the fighter and held on while he watched Shodai face the oncoming horde. He fired his Spacium Ray at the crowd, destroying them in one fell swoop. He looked at Fox and nodded.

"Okay, Falco, take us up."

"Just do me a favor and try not to fall off." Falco commented, smirking.

"Hey, _you_ just worry about not getting shot down." Fox retorted. When Shodai saw the arwing takeoff, he decided to fly up as well, acting as an escort to the fighter. Just then, Aparoids began to swarm all around the Climate Control Center, as if they were signaled to reveal themselves.

"Hey, sure-shot! Get your blaster out, and take care of our admirers will ya?" Falco said. Shodai looked down, and saw that several of the larger Aparoids, who looked like giant wheels for the most part, were aiming what looked like laser weapons at them. Shodai let loose his Spacium Ray, turning them all into ashes. "Uh, never mind." Falco said. Fox looked at Shodai and nodded. Shodai returned the gesture by giving a two-fingered salute. The Aparoids seemed to ignore the fighter for the most part, heading for the Climate Control Center instead. "What the heck're they doing?" Falco asked.

"It looks like they're trying to assimilate the Climate Control Center." Shodai said.

"Assimilate it?" Fox asked. Just then, Slippy's voice cut in over the communicator.

"Fox, I thought those bots looked suspicious, so I checked them, and get this, they were Aparoids!"

"Are you sure?" Fox asked. Shodai grunted.

"As I thought. They're trying to take control of the Climate Control Center. They're going to reform the planet to better suit their needs."

"Really?" Falco asked.

"It's just as Steven said. The Aparoids must be able to take over any other device or machine!" Slippy added.

"Seriously?"

"Yep!" A voice answered Falco's question. "And the one who's pulling the strings is me, Pigma!" Both Fox and Shodai looked behind them, and saw Pigma's ship coming up from behind them. "Up and at 'em, big fella!" he said, flying down low next to a pillar-like structure. It started to glow, then it erupted out of the snow, balancing itself on two, skinny appendages.

"What? That's part of the engineering, isn't it?" Fox asked.

"It's been infected by the Aparoids!" Slippy said.

"You dirty swine!" Falco cursed.

"So, you've thrown your lot in with them, have you? Very well, I still owe you for last time!" Shodai shouted as both arwing and Ultra pursued Pigma.

"I wouldn't bother with me, right now! That thing looks like it means business!" Pigma said, laughing in evil glee.

"Danger, danger. Climate Control Center generator reaching critical overload." ROB's voice rang over the communicator.

"Deal with Pigma later! Without the Climate Control Center, we won't be able to stop the blizzards again!" Peppy said. Shodai looked back, and saw the Aparoids begin to swarm the Control Center. He knew what they were doing; they were going to freeze the planet to the point that only _they_ could use it. He cursed under his breath as he was faced with a tough decision. As Falco dropped low to the ground so Fox could get off, Pigma continued his mad laughter until he was out of the atmosphere. Just then, Fox's arwing materialized next to him. Jumping in, he flew right at the newly created Aparoid beast. However, he wasn't the only one; Shodai grew to his regular height, and flew right at the construct. He performed a drop-kick, and connected with the Aparoid. It fell on its side, while Shodai landed next to it in his combat stance. The Aparoid construct righted itself up again, and faced the new adversary. However, the rest of the team was present as well, each keeping their distance from the two combatants. However, the Aparoid construct opened the front portion of its body, like a mouth, and smaller units poured out. The smaller Aparoids swarmed around the Ultra while he tried to protect himself. Shodai swatted at the smaller Aparoids, knocking them to the ground and destroying them. However, they were just too many. That's when Star Fox intervened. Outmaneuvering the smaller Aparoids, the arwings blasted them left and right, double lasers and nova bombs making short work of them. However, the real threat loomed in the form of the Aparoid construct. Shodai acted swiftly, sending a haymaker at the thing, making it step back, and an upper-cut made the body swing directly up, like a see-saw. However, when the body came back down, Shodai blocked it, but some of the smaller Aparoids took aim at him, and fired. The laser blasts scorched his back and he groaned in pain. Then, the Aparoid construct lifted its body again and slammed it down on the stunned Shodai. The Space Patrol man rolled out of the way just as a thin leg was about to come stabbing down on him. He got back up into his combat stance while the Star Fox team dealt with the smaller units. Slippy chanced a look at Shodai, who was grappling with the Aparoid construct while it was trying to buck him off. Acting quickly, he scanned the giant Aparoid, and his readings did not disappoint.

"Hey, guys! I think I know how to beat this thing!" Slippy said.

"Well, spit it out, frog-boy!" Falco shouted.

"That thing's only weakness is the inside of its', er, mouth. If we can get a few shots in, then it should keel over and die!" Slippy said. Shodai appeared to have heard them, for he immediately turned his body around so he was facing the Aparoid construct's direction, while still maintaining his grip on it. Then, he reached up with his hands, and pried the three flaps that covered the mouth open. He looked at the Star Fox team and nodded at them.

"Alright, looks like Steven's given us an opening!" Fox said, turning his arwing to head for the Aparoid construct. He fired a nova bomb, which detonated inside of the thing. The rest of the team followed suit, firing inside the belly of the beast and doing horrendous damage. Steven let go, and let loose a high-kick that sent the construct staggering back while it shrieked mechanically in agony. However, Fox noticed something odd about Shodai; he was starting to slow down a little, and noticed a buildup of frost around his frame.

"Steven, are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Why?" Shodai asked.

"Your starting to ice up!" Fox replied. Steven looked at himself, then disregarded it.

"This is nothing. I can still fight." he retorted.

"Steven, you're beginning to slow down, and you have frost on you! You'll be frozen solid in a matter of minutes!" Fox said.

"I said I'm fine! It's more important that we beat this thing, no matter what!" Shodai nearly shouted at Fox. Just then, Shodai leapt up at the Aparoid, and elbow-slammed it on the top before delivering several chops to its body. However, the Aparoid construct bucked him off, and swung its body around to slam itself into the Ultra. Shodai fell to the frozen ground, and got back up to a kneeling position, frost and ice making itself more apparent on his body, and he was slowing down even more. He tried to punch the Aparoid, but it was too slow, and the construct swung its body again, knocking him back to the ground once more. Shodai tried to rise, but couldn't find the strength. His warning light was flashing rapidly, the chime constant.

"Fox, we have to do something!" Krystal said, seeing how helpless Shodai was as the Aparoid construct loomed over him. Fox gunned his engine, and let loose a nova bomb in front of the Aparoid. It back off from the blast, but also did something else that was unexpected; the extreme heat from the warhead thawed out the Ultra. Shodai jumped to his feet with a shout, and grabbed the Aparoid construct. He hoisted it over his head, and threw it to the ground. Shrieking mechanically, the Aparoid construct got back to its feet, albeit uneasily. Then, Shodai was upon it once again. He was facing in the Aparoid's same direction again when he grappled it, and pried open the mouth once more. However, he did more than just that; summoning his last reserves of strength, Shodai ripped off the flaps that formed the mouth, leaving the orifice open for an attack. The Star Fox team let loose their arsenal of nova bombs and charged shots, while Shodai fired his Spacium Ray directly in the center of the opening. What happened was a chain-reaction that made the Aparoid construct explode into millions of flaming metal debris. After that, the rest of the Aparoids turned into so much useless scrap as they seemed to just deactivate. The team let out a collective sigh of relief, as did Shodai.

"This is Fox. The Climate Control Center is undamaged." Fox said, doing a fly-by over the structure. The Aparoids were incomplete in their assimilation, and the Aparoids inside just died away, as did their alterations.

"Looks like the Aparoids are gone too." Slippy commented.

"Nicely done, Fox. You as well, Steven." Shodai nodded at the team. "But, try to be a little more careful next time." Shodai tilted his silver head in puzzlement.

"She's right, Steven. The one thing that's more important than completing the mission, is that everyone gets out of it alive." Fox said. Shodai seemed to consider it before responding.

"Alright. I'll try to be more…'careful', in the future." he said. He looked up into the sky, and with a loud shout, he was flying away towards the Great Fox.

"But man! Getting attacked by your allies, I mean that's just crazy!" Falco said.

"Machines are machines, after all. Those without strong wills can easily be turned to evil." Peppy said.

"Those without strong wills…allies or enemies…" Fox mused.

"What is it, Fox?" Krystal asked.

"Nothing. That just sounds like someone I know, that's all." he said. The Star Fox team streaked skyward, while the Aura Borealis played out in the night sky.


	5. Brother of Light

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

ch.5

Brother of Light

'Damn! I didn't think there'd be this many so soon!' the figure thinks as he sees the size of the Aparoid force on the planet. He was sent to the Lylat system to aid Shodai in his fight against the Aparoid threat. What he didn't count on was the size of the enemy. Already, they've spread to different parts of the system, infecting and assimilating the uninhabitable planets in the solar system first, turning them into forward operating posts to spew out more forces. It's how they were able to spread so effectively, by taking over the planets least likely to support life, then to use those planets to thier advantage. The figure, sporting a red and silver design similiar to his comrade in arms, heads for the planet.

Upon landing on the barren surface, he sees nothing but desert wasteland, without even so much as a shrub to be blown in the alien wind. The red and silver figure looks this way and that, his glowing yellow eyes set in a sharp, angled silvery face. He sported a mostly crimson body, with streaks of silver along the sides, back, and chest, as well as a type of solar-panel like structure on his upper chest. Upon his head was a fin that went from the crown of the head, then stopped down where the head meets the neck, while a green jewel shone on his forehead. He made his way across the barren surface, until he found his objective; the Aparoids were busy setting up a nest in a canyon. Kneeling upon the rim, the figure surveyed the assimilation of the canyon. Aparoid Hatchers spewed out more drones and workers as they worked to turn the desert ground into a metallic surface, while it pulsed with a soft glow, like the ground itself were alive. 'I need to stop them before they spread any further.' the figure thinks. Just then, a couple of the Aparoids looked up in his direction, and he felt a chill go down his spine. 'Uh-oh, looks like I've been found out.' The pair shrieked metallically, alerting the rest of the swarm to his presence. He got up and back-pedaled, but when he turned, he came face-to-face with more of the drones. They reared up, brandishing their forelimbs threateningly. However, the figure reached behind his head, and actually removed the fin that sat atop. He slashed at the Aparoids, slicing them with ease as the weapon cut through their bodies like tissue paper. He placed the fin back on his head and saw the swarm climb up the canyon wall after him. He started to run from the lip of the canyon as the first of the drones reached up towards him. He looked back, and saw the swarm has already started to clear the lip of the wall and bear down on him. 'I have no choice.' the figure thinks. He raised an arm, and a beam of light shot out. When the beam died, he removed his fin again, brandishing it threateningly at the swarm. "Alright, so who's first?" he asked as the swarm bore down on him.

The Great Fox was following the trail left by Pigma Dengar as he fled Fichina. Heading towards the planet Titania, Steven was on the bridge at the time with Peppy and Slippy. While the hare and frog busied themselves at the controls of the ship, Steven thought he felt something. He went over to the console, and brought up the image of Titania. Peppy noticed, and the hare inquired what he was doing. Steven didn't answer as he enlarged the image. Then, they both saw it. Peppy called the rest of the team up, and in moments, they rest of Star Fox arrived. "Peppy, what's going on?" Fox asked. Then, he and everyone else saw it; it looked like an Aura Borealis in space. However, this one was multiple colors, ranging from blue to yellow to red and green, all the colors dancing together.

"What…is that?" Falco asked.

"It's lovely." Krystal commented.

"It's a signal." Steven said.

"What?" Peppy asked. All eyes were on the Ultra/vulpine.

"It's an S.O.S. signal used by a Space Patrol man in distressed. One of my comrades is down there!" he said, almost urgently. Before any of them could say anything else, Steven bolted out of the bridge and to the hangar. He turned to his Ultra self, and sped towards Titania. As the rest of the team watched the Ultra fly towards the planet.

"Well, what do we do?" Slippy asked.

"If a comrade of Steven's is in distress, isn't the logical solution be to help him?" Krystal asked.

"Hey, guys!" Slippy said. "I got a lot of Aparoid activity coming from the surface! It looks like they're trying to turn the planet into a nest of some kind."

"Well, that's it! We're going down there." Fox said.

On the surface of the planet, the Ultra was fighting for his life against the swarm. Brandishing his fin-like weapon, he sliced through a number of he drones, but they still kept coming. He placed the fin back on his head, then decided to try a different tactic; placing the two fingers on both of his hands just above the jewel on his forehead, an emerald beam fired out of the jewel. The beam cut through the Aparoids like a hot knife through butter, cutting their numbers down drastically. But still they kept coming. "Dammit! At this rate, I'm not gonna last long," the Ultra said to himself as the swarm closed in. Just then, a blue ray of light incinerated the first line of the Aparoids and making the rest stop in their tracks. The Ultra looked up, and felt relief course through him. Shodai dropped down next to the other Ultra.

"Sebun! Are you alright?" Shodai asked.

"Took you long enough, nii-san. I was wondering if I was gonna have all these guys to myself." the other replied, a smirk evident in his voice. Shodai chuckled in response. "Well, 'Ultraman', shall we show these guys how the senior members of the Ultra Brothers fight?" he asked, using the name Shodai gained on Earth.

"Ready when you are, 'Ultra Seven'." Shodai replied, using the title that the other gained while Sebun served on Earth after Shodai left it to recuperate. Both took up their combat stances and faced against the oncoming horde.

"Just like the old days, Huh?" Sebun asked.

"Just like the old days." Shodai replied as both of them rushed at the horde. A flurry of punches, kicks, etc. both Ultras struck again and again at the oncoming swarm, taking down many of the drones. However, despite the heavy losses, the swarm still bore down on them. Just then, both warriors stood side by side and fired their energy weapons at them. Shodai fired his Spacium Ray, while Sebun fired his Emelium Beam. Both deadly rays cut through the ranks of the swarm, decimating the drones. The attack lasted for a good thirty seconds, before dying down. The swarm was left with only a handful when they turned around and head back into the canyon. Both warriors fell to their knees, both feeling equally drained of power. Sebun looked to Shodai as both of them uneasily stood back up. Shodai looked up when he heard the sound of an arwing flying by, and saw the Star Fox team flying overhead.

"Now, how long have they been there?" Sebun asked. Shodai looked at his friend, then back at the group.

'How long have you guys been flying around while me and my friend could have died?' he asked Fox through his telepathy.

"Actually, we just got here." Fox replied. "And besides, we wouldn't want to cut in on the fun that you guys were having."

"Right." Shodai said.

"Uh, guys, I'm getting a lot of activity from that canyon up ahead." Slippy said. The rest of the team looked over the canyon, and at the work of the Aparoids had made.

"What are they dong?" Falco asked.

"They're assimilating it." Shodai replied, as he and Sebun flew up to join the rest of the team.

"How can they assimilate it?" Slippy asked. "There's practically nothing here of value."

"And that's the reason." Sebun replied. The rest of team took notice of him.

"And, you are?" Falco asked.

"A friend." Sebun replied.

"You're the one who sent the S.O.S. signal, aren't you?" Krystal said. Sebun nodded in agreement.

"I was sent here by my and Shodai's superiors to aid him in the Aparoid invasion."

"I'm surprised that you could be spared from the Gycien system. Weren't the Aparoids on the verge of taking over the system?" Shodai asked.

"Is there someplace more secure that we can talk." Sebun asked.

"Of course." Both Ultras flew up into the sky, followed by the Star Fox team. After landing inside the bay of the Great Fox, both Ultras watched as the team landed their arwings and exited out of the vehicles. Then, they got their first good look at Sebun. Both of the Ultras stood at equal height, but Sebun's features seemed more sharper and angular than Shodai's rounded facial features, and Sebun had more red covering his body than Shodai. Sebun got his first look at the Lylatians as well, being more than taken aback at what he saw.

"So, Shodai, I see that you chose to associate yourself with some, er, peculiar company."

"Who's he calling 'peculiar'?" Falco asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"You said that you wanted to talk, Sebun?" Shodai asked. Sebun nodded, looking at the others.

"This applies to you as well." he said to them.

"Follow us." Fox said as he and the others led Sebun to the conference room. Once inside, the team seated themselves at the round table, followed by Peppy and ROB as they just walked in.

"Ah, you must be Steven's friend." the hare said, looking at Sebun.

"Steven?" he asked.

"Yeah, him." Slippy said, pointing at Shodai. Sebun laughed a bit.

"Steven, really? That's how they know you?" he asked. Shodai sighed.

"It was the only name I could think of."

"Well, in any case, my name is Sebun, but I guess you could call me Dan for now."

"Dan? Not really a name that would associates itself with your real name." Falco said.

"And therein lies the point."

"Enough of this, you said you had something important to tell us?" Shodai said, growing impatient.

"Ah, yes. The reason why I'm not at the Gycien system right now, is because the Aparoids are gone."

"What?" Shodai asked. "You mean they were defeated?"

"No, I don't think so." Sebun seated himself as he laid his head on his hand. "It's really strange, but all across the galaxy the Aparoids are just abandoning the planets that they have either conquered or completely assimilated."

"But why? Did something scare them off?" Shodai asked.

"Hey, if this is true, then you guys must be doing something right." Slippy said.

"It's not that."

"Then what?"

"At first, we thought that they were giving up, but then we found something else out that's disturbing."

"What's that?"

"The Aparoids that left are headed for the Lylat system."

"What?" Falco asked.

"It's true. The majority of the Aparoid swarm that spread itself along the galaxy is now headed for the Lylat system. Some are left behind throughout parts of the galaxy to maintain the foothold that they gained, but most of them are now headed for here. That's the reason why Zoffy sent me."

"Seems to me like they're starting their big push." Peppy said. Sebun nodded.

"That's what it looks like. Lylat _is_ on a direct path to M78. If they take Lylat, then that would leave our home planet open for an attack." Shodai reasoned. Sebun agreed with him.

"And they're already beginning preparations. On that planet, and on a couple of others, they've begun the assimilation progress."

"You mean that nest we saw?" Falco asked.

"Exactly. If left unchecked, it will grow exponentially until it covers most of the planet. Shodai, er Steven will tell you that what I say is true. After all, he and I have been fighting against this thing for months." Sebun looked down, as if in defeat. "More than one system was lost to those damned things, And now they're headed for our home planet…" Sebun clenched his fists, while Shodai placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Both Shodai and Sebun had seen the Aparoid's assimilation process, and were forced to only watch helplessly as the indigenous races were either brought to the brink of extinction, or wiped out completely. Then, he looked up. "We can _not _let them get past us."

"Don't worry. We told Shodai, and now we're telling you; those bugs aren't getting past us without a fight!" Fox said. The rest of the team nodded on agreement. Sebun nodded his silvery head.

"Thanks."

"And, on top of that, we're on the verge of finding the Aparoid's home planet." Peppy said.

"What? You mean, you _know_ where it is?" Sebun asked excitedly.

"Well, not exactly." Fox explained what had happened on Katina, and on Fichina before coming to Titania and rescuing Sebun. The Ultra nodded in understanding.

"I see, so we need to find this Pigma Dengar guy, and then we'll find the Aparoid homeworld. You've probably seen what they can do, as far as assimilation."

"They can take over machines, that much we've seen."

"But have you seen them take over a living thing, before?" he asked.

"Uh, no, we haven't."

"And I pray that you don't."

"In any case, we still have to deal with the Aparoid nest on Titania." Peppy said. "If what Dan has said is true, then we need to do something about it, right now."

"It's still small, we should be able to deal with it with just two Ultras and you guys," Sebun said. He thought for a moment, then stood up. "Alright, here's what we'll do; you guys will act as a distraction for the Aparoid drones, luring them out of the nest, while Shodai and I take care of the nest in the canyon."

"You think you guys can do that?" Fox asked. Shodai and Sebun looked at eachother, and nodded.

"Leave it to us." Shodai said, sounding confident.

"While I'm sure you saw what _one _of us can do, you have no idea the horrors _two_ of us can unleash, especially myself and Shodai." Sebun replied. The rest of the team wondered what he meant.

A short time later, just above the surface of the planet, the Star Fox team and the two Ultras watched as the nest started to spread itself along the canyon, already starting to reach beyond the rim of the canyon walls. "It's starting to spread faster. We need to take it out, now!" Sebun said.

"Alright, let's show these bugs what it means to mess with us!" Falco said as he surged his arwing forward, followed by the rest of the team. The arwings ran strafing runs along the canyon, letting loose a fury of nova bombs and charged shots. The explosions blossoming from the canyon indicated the massive damage that was being done. But it still was not enough. And, the drones began to spew forth in a rage. Having wings of their own, the Aparoid drones flew to fend off the arwing assault, however, this left the Aparoid nest open to Shodai and Sebun's attack. Floating just above the rim of the canyon, the Ultras surveyed the damage done by Star Fox. While the nova bombs and charged shots left charred and burnt sections of the nest, a majority of the nest remained intact.

"We need to wipe it out in one blow." Shodai said.

"Shodai, remember our milk-run over Alderra?" Sebun asked.

"You mean the one that got us suspended for unnecessary force?" Shodai asked.

"That's the one." Sebun agreed.

"What does that have to do with-" Suddenly, it hits Shodai like a thunder bolt. "Oh, no. You can't mean…"

"I do. We don't have a choice in this instance. We need to wipe them all out in one blow, or we'll never be rid of them." Sebun said. Shodai didn't like it, but he couldn't deny his friend's reasoning. He just wishes that the damage this time won't be as extensive like the last.

"Alright, let's do it, the Ultra-Double Attack!" Shodai said. As both of them floated side by side, Shodai reached out with his left hand, while Sebun reached out with his left until they slightly touched. Then, energy swirled out of the hands until it formed a ball of bright light in between the two Ultras.

"_URUTURA…"_ Sebun started as the ball grew larger

"_DOUBURU…" _Shodai added as the ball grew larger, and turned from gold to red and blue.

"_ATTACK!"_ Both Ultras flung their arms out that held the ball, and a spiral ray of crimson and sapphire rained down on the canyon, the intense light filling the canyon with devastating power. In seconds, the canyon that held the Aparoid nest was nothing more than a blackened crater with bad memories and ghosts. The Star Fox team saw this, as did the Aparoids just before the drones shut down, and fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Fox, look at that!" Slippy said.

"I don't believe it." Falco said. "Now that's what I call fireworks."

"I never knew…just how powerful they could be…" Krystal said under her breath.

"So, that's the power of the Ultras…" Fox said. "If they were to turn on us, would we have a chance?" After the spiral ray of light died, Shodai and Sebun turned to eachother, then at their handiwork. Even though this was only a small nest, both Ultras felt like they just won a major victory against the enemy. For awhile, they were the ones on the defense, but now it was the Ultras who dealt the blow. And it felt good, to say the least.


	6. Wild Hog chase, pt3

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

Chapter 6

Wild Hog Chase, pt.3

"Pigma's trail leads to this area." ROB's monotone voice rolled off as the automaton busied itself at a console. The Great Fox neared the Meteo Asteroid belt, just outside of Cornerian space. The image of the asteroid belt filled the screen.

"Hah! You think you found a safe place to run to? You think we're gonna give up and go away? Not a chance! Don't mess with us, Pigma!"

"So, is this like an amusement park to a former gang member?" Fox asked, giving his wingman an odd look.

"You know it!" Falco replied, ecstatic.

"Alright! THIS time, we're gonna get the core memory from Pigma!" Peppy said, excited. Steven didn't say anything, but clenched his fists in anticipation.

'THIS time, I'll give that hog what he has coming to him…' he mentally notes. He remembers what transpired an hour and a half ago;

"_Sebun, I need you to head to Corneria."_

"_What for, Shodai?" the crimson Ultra asked. Both Ultras were in Steven/Shodai's room. Immediately after eliminating the Aparoid nest on Titania, Sebun asked how he might be able to assist Shodai in his endeavors._

"_If what you have said is true, then the Aparoids will more than likely strike the center of power in this system. Corneria is the government central of this system. If it falls into Aparoid hands, then the system is lost, and there will be nothing to stand in the way to M78. While myself and my friends are going after Pigma and the stolen core memory, Corneria will be in your hands." Steven explained. "We'll be doing two things at once; locating the Aparoids' homeworld, and protecting Corneria. You're the only one here who can do that."_

"_Fine. But, I'll need to change forms." At that moment, a light covered Sebun, and when it fell away, a new form was standing in front of him. It was a German Shepherd in a yellow jacket and jeans. He stood just slightly taller than the red fox in front of him. Steven nodded in acceptance. _

"_Alright. Go to Corneria, and find General Pepper. Tell him that Steven sent you, and he will know what you mean."_

"_Alright. Good luck, nii-san." Dan transformed into a crimson ball of light, and floated out of the window, like it wasn't there. Then, it streaked towards Corneria._

Present: As the image of the Meteo asteroid field continued to swell, Steven felt his own anticipation grow as well. Fox turned to his team. "Alright, everybody, let's head out! Pigma isn't gonna find himself!" With that, the team left command bridge, and went to the hangar. As the team entered their arwings, Steven stood in front of the forcefield, and pulled out his Beta Capsule. A flash filled the hangar, and Shodai launched with the four arwings. Entering the asteroid field, the five shapes maneuvered around the floating chunks of rock and debris. However, among the asteroids was something that neither of them expected to see.

"Hey, was that…" Slippy started.

"It couldn't be. Was that the wolfen?" Falco asked. Indeed, floating among the asteroids were the three fighters used by the Star Wolf team.

"Wolf…did they…" Fox started.

"I'm sensing faint brain patterns…they abandoned ship!" Krystal said. Strangely enough, Fox felt some measure of relief when he heard this, while Shodai wondered what could take down three experienced pilots with ease. Further along into the asteroids, Krystal picked something else up. "Something's out there!" she said, and suddenly, several craft popped out from behind the asteroids. These were not like the fighters that the team encountered previously, but rather something else. However, they recognized them quickly enough; the Aparoids bore down on them, intent on wiping out the interlopers. It was Fox who acted first. Surging ahead, he shot down two of the fighters before they could get a bead on him, while the rest of the team scattered. Shodai, on the other hand, stood his ground. The red and silver Ultra watched as four of them circled around him and closed in. Then, he fired his Spacium Ray, the deadly attack vaporizing them as the Warrior of Light swung the blue and white ray around in a circle. The rest of the team were dealing the Aparoids on their own. Falco snuck up on a couple of them and fired a charged-shot, the red energy bolt destroying both of them in a heart-beat. However, three more snuck up on him and fired.

"Uh, little help maybe?" Falco asked while he tried to shake them off. Fox swung around and fired a nova bomb, the warhead detonating against one of them and the ensuing blast completely wiping out all three. "Thanks Fox. Not too proud of what you saw back there…" Falco said, embarrassed.

"It happens, Falco." Fox replied. However, Slippy was having better luck; he downed two of the Aparoids at once, and even did a somersault when one was behind him, and killed it promptly.

"I did it!" he said with glee. Krystal shot down two with a charged shot, and crippled another. She watched it fly uncontrollably right into an asteroid and explode on impact, a satisfied smile spreading from the corners of her mouth.

Clear of the first wave, the team made their way further into the heart of the asteroid belt. However, some of the larger chunks started to close in on eachother. "Watch out!" Slippy cried.

"Use your brakes!" Peppy said, watching their progress on the monitor. However, while the team stopped dead in their tracks, Shodai kept going.

"Steven!" Fox called. The Ultra stopped just short of touching the large asteroid, and cocked a fist behind his head, and swung with all his might with a loud shout. The fist struck the asteroid, and the rock exploded into fragments, scattering the rest of the asteroids out of the team's way. The Ultra looked behind him at a shocked Star Fox team, and gestured with his head.

"The way is clear." he said.

"Uh, right. Thanks." Fox said. The four arwings flew past the Ultra, all wondering what that was about. Flying onward, they came across the heart of the asteroids, and nestled in it was the very thing that they tried to defend; a large installation, still undergoing construction, laid at the center of Meteo. The team stopped, and took the sight in.

"What's this?" Fox asked.

"It looks like a base under construction." Slippy replied.

"So, they were building another base…" Falco mused.

"Just like Pigma. He never misses a trick." Peppy said over the intercom.

"Seems like Pigma's planning ahead." Krystal said under her breath. Shodai said nothing, and surged forward. "Steven, wait!" Krystal called. However, he could not be reached. He opened with his Spacium Ray on the base, the deadly stream of energy scorching the hull of the base.

"Steven what are you doing?!" Fox asked, flying up next to him. The Ultra dropped his attack, and looked at Fox. Even while he was still the size of a man, Fox knew better than to mess with him.

"If Pigma is in there, then I will do everything to draw him out." Steven replied plainly. He turned his attention back to the base.

"If you destroy the base, you could kill Pigma!" Fox argued.

"As if the universe will miss him, or even notice he's gone." Shodai replied. The remark caught Fox off guard, as did Krystal who monitored the conversation with her telepathy.

'Steven, what's wrong with you?' she wondered. However, none of them noticed that he was glowing until it was almost too late. Shodai grew to his fourty meter height, and his arms glowed a bright white as energy flowed into them. Krystal knew what he was planning, and flew in front of him. "Stop, Steven!" As the Ultra looked down at her, the glow in his arms faded. "Steven, stop and think! If you do this now, not only will you destroy the core memory, but you'll also be no better than the Aparoids!" Krystal said.

"Wh-what?" he asked, incredulous.

"I know that you're tired, tired of all this fighting and watching innocents suffer at the hands of the Aparoids. But if you do this, you're stooping to their level! Please, just have a little more patience. We will find the Core memory, and we will stop them." Shodai looked down and away, then looked back up.

"The base is already under the influence of the Aparoids. Take a look yourself." he said, pointing at the base. Krystal looked harder, and saw that her friend was right; along the base's outer hull, traces of the Aparoids' influence was evident. Things pulsed with a dark purple glow, while infected machines went to and fro about the base. "I know what it is that you are saying, but there is no one left to save inside the base. Everyone on board is now an Aparoid."

"Wh-what?" Krystal asked.

"Everyone on board is infected with the Aparoid virus, and are now Aparoids themselves."

"Wait, the Aparoids can take over people as well?" Falco asked. Shodai looked to him and nodded.

"It is one of their means of spreading themselves. If they do not wipe out the indigenous population, then they will assimilate it, utterly and completely." Shodai turned to face Krystal. "You have not seen the horrors of the assimilation that I have. You have not seen innocent people turned into mindless drones for the collective mind and will of the Aparoids. You haven't seen men, women, even children turned into those things. Well, I have! And I was one of the ones forced to put them down!" Krystal looked away, and looked at the base. She felt inside the base, hoping to find someone inside, someone who hasn't been turned. But, it is as Shodai said. Everyone inside is an Aparoid. Shodai turned to face the base once more, and charged up his Spacium Ray. Krystal turned around just in time to see him fire, the ray of light striking the base.

"NO!" Krystal shouted. The ray tore its way deep into the base, and struck the center. Then, the base glowed and exploded into a great fireball. The shockwave was enough to knock the arwings around a bit, but Shodai remained firm, still holding his pose. Only when the explosion died down did he drop his arms as he floated stationary in space. Krystal tore her eyes away from where the station once floated to stare at Shodai in disbelief.

"Steven, you…" Fox started, but was cut off when another voice sang out over their intercom systems. It was the sound of laughter, then it spoke.

"You certainly are persistent, ain't ya?" Shodai turned to face where the voice was coming from, and sure enough, the rest of the team saw it; floating in space, was Pigma's ship. It was empty, the vessel just floating around with no one inside.

"Fox, over there!" Krystal said,, looking at what looked like a floating satellite. And in the center, was Pigma Dengar. However, he was covered with the Aparoid Virus, the nanomachines already spreading throughout his body.

"You guys may have destroyed my base, but you'll never get me!" he said. His body was starting to show more signs of Aparoid conversion, the virus spreading all over him. "Incredible. You must…join me…" Then, several flaps covered him as the satellite apparently swallowed him. However, Pigma could still be heard, and several long, thin mechanical arms popped out from the side of the circular body of the satellite, and when the flaps opened once more, they revealed the horrors of what happens when a person is converted to an Aparoid. The center was in the shape of Pigma's head and color, except it looked like a combination of flesh and machine, a gigantic cybernetic life form.

"Wh-what _is_ that thing?" Fox asked. Shodai braced himself as he floated in front of the Pigma Aparoid.

"Do not resist. You have been warned." the Pigma Aparoid replied.

"Looks like Pigma is already gone… Who or what are you?" Fox demanded.

"We will answer: We are the ultimate existence. You cannot resist us. You will join us." the Pigma Aparoid replied.

"We're not buying that garbage!" Falco replied.

"He can hear us, but he's not listening." Fox said. The dozen arms moved and waved about independently of eachother while the flaps closed around the Pigma Aparoid head.

"Fox, the core memory that Pigma stole must be inside that thing." Peppy said.

"Alright everybody, attack!" Fox said. The arwings split up, and Shodai flew at the Pigma Aparoid. However, two of the mechanical arms grabbed him by the wrists, while two more grabbed his ankles. The flaps opened, revealing Pigma's head.

"You cannot resist us. You will become one of us." it said. Then, the mouth opened up wide, and something like a tongue came out of it. It gradually made its way to Shodai, who struggled against the grip he was now in. However, the arms held firm, until they were blasted apart by a nova bomb. Shodai tore the other arms holding his legs off of him and flew away, just as Fox's arwing flew next to him. Fox gave him a two-fingered salute, while the Ultra nodded at him. The flaps closed on the face again, and the arms were replaced with new ones. Two of them seemed to reach up for the arwings, and a rail-gun morphed from the hand and fired. The nimble fighters evaded the attack, while Shodai sent a shredding halo, severing the mechanical limb. The other hand became a flame thrower, this one aimed at the Ultra himself. Shodai brought his arms up to guard, but the heat was intense. However, Krystal and Slippy targeted the arm and blew it apart with their lasers. Just then, more of the arms came out, and tried to grab them. The fighters evaded these as well, while Shodai simply grabbed the ones that were after him, and pulled them out of their sockets on the satellite. The arms, what was left of them, retracted back into the satellite, and the flaps opened to reveal Pigma's mechanical face. "You will join us or die." His face began to glow, building up energy.

"Watch out!" Fox called. Just then, a bright, multicolored beam of light erupted out of Pigma's face, intent on vaporizing them. The arwings flew out of the way, while Shodai brought up his light barrier just before the beam consumed him. "Steven!" Fox called. When the beam died, the Ultra was floating in space, the light barrier still active. Shodai made the wall of light dissipate, and took up a combat stance. Fox sighed in relief, then focused on the Pigma Aparoid. The flaps closed again, and the arms reappeared. "There's just no end to this…" Fox muttered.

"Fox, there may be a way." Peppy said. "Try to aim at its face the next time it reveals itself."

"Will do, Peppy." Fox replied. Fox took aim a two of the mechanical arms and fired. The lasers blew the three-digit hands off, making the arms retract back to the body. However, Fox wasn't watching the other arms and got caught by one of them.

"Fox!" Krystal shouted. The arm brought the arwing close to the flaps, and then they opened to reveal Pigma's face. The eyes moved to focus on the vulpine.

"You will join us…" the Pigma Aparoid said. Then, the tongue moved out of the mouth again, and was just inches from touching the canopy.

"Hey, Pigma!" a voice shouted. Just then, Shodai came flying in, and threw his fist right in Pigma's eye, the socket swallowing his hand and arm up to the elbow. The Pigma Aparoid wailed in agony from the attack. "An eye…" Shodai pulled his arm out, then threw another fist into the other eye, destroying it as well. "For an eye!" he shouted. He pulled his arm out, and grabbed the arm that was holding Fox in place. He gave it a jerk and it popped out of its place, letting the arwing go. Pigma continued to scream in pain, the eyes leaking what could be called blood. "Now, Fox!" Fox nodded, and let loose his arsenal on the Pigma Aparoid, as did the rest of the Star Fox team. Then, Shodai delivered the coup' de grace', firing his Spacium Ray in its face. The Pigma Aparoid screamed, and it fired its multi-colored beam one last time before disappearing in a bright light. When the debris and glare died down, the core memory could be seen floating freely in space. Shodai went over, and gently placed it in his silvery hand. He looked back to the team, and held his hand up, showing the cube-shaped object in his palm. Fox nodded in satisfaction while the rest of the team sighed in relief.

"Alright guys, we got the core memory back. Head back to the Great Fox and we'll tell the good general." Peppy said over the intercom. With that, the five of them turned tail, and flew back to the edge of the asteroid field.


	7. Diversion

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

Chapter 7

Diversion

On the Great Fox, the team was assembled in the command bridge when General Pepper received the news about Pigma's destruction, and the retrieval of the Aparoid Memory Core. "Good work, Star Fox. No one could have done it better than you."

"The Core Memory should reveal the location of the Aparoid homeworld, right?" Fox asked.

"Indeed, Fox. The time to face the Aparoid Queen has come." General Pepper said.

"Ah ha," Fox mused. Steven was standing next to Fox, and decided to throw his bit in.

"Once we find out the location of the home world, I will send a signal to M78. Hopefully, we can send a contingent of Space Patrol men there to help wipe out the Aparoids."

"I thought that you guys were stretched thin." Fox replied.

"We were. However, since the Aparoids appear to be abandoning their posts to head back to the home world, or making their way here, most of the warriors that were stationed in various parts of the galaxy have returned to M78 for further instruction. Right now, we got more than a hundred warriors just aching to repay the Aparoids in kind for what they've been doing to us."

"The more the merrier, Steven." Pepper replied. "The source of all Aparoid will, the Queen herself, makes her vile nest on their home planet. As long as the Queen exists, the Aparoids will continue to multiply."

"Understood, we're on our way!" Fox said.

"Fox…" Krystal said.

"What's wrong Krystal?"

"I'm getting a distress call from Sauria."

"Sauria…from Tricky?" Fox asked, concern rising up.

"I'm not sure, but…I sense cries of agony…" Krystal said. Fox moved towards Krystal, who seemed to be on the verge of collapse. She held herself up on the railing, but barely when she stumbled forward. Fox caught her just in time. The cerulean vixen recovered, holding her head and shaking it to chase the dizziness away. "I'll be alright, Fox." Krystal said. Fox turned to Peppy, who sat at the console closest to the view screen.

"Peppy, can you pick up a signal from Sauria?"

"Way ahead of ya, Fox." Peppy replied. He typed in several commands, and the screen shifted to the planet Sauria. Steven and the rest turned their gaze to the screen, and when it shifted, the team were met with a terrible sight; the screen shifted to several different pictures, all of them having images of the planet's native dinosaurs showing signs of Aparoid infection. Dead or dying, the dinosaurs had glowing blue growths on their bodies, much like the ones that Pigma had, just shortly before he was completely assimilated.

"Fox, look at that…it's horrible." Slippy said.

"What have they done to Sauria's dinosaurs?! This is unforgivable!" Fox almost shouted in rage. The screen shifted again as Peppy typed in several commands, and showed the same circular Aparoid Hatchers that the team dealt with on Katina.

"Aparoid Hatchers. This must be how they multiply. If we destroy the Hatchers, we just might stand a chance." Peppy commented.

"Okay, let's move. I'll-"

"Hold it!" Steven said, cutting Fox off.

"Wha-?" Steven moved towards Peppy.

"Where is Sauria located in the Lylat system?" Steven asked.

"Steven, what are you doing?" Slippy asked.

"We have no time for this. We need to head down there and-"

"I know what I'm doing!" Steven replied, cutting Krystal off. Peppy typed up the coordinates, and a map of Lylat appeared on the screen. It showed Corneria, with the Meteo Asteroid belt in front of it, then Solar and Lylat, Katina, Fichina, Sargasso, and then Sauria picking the rear, the next to last one in the system.

"Steven, what in heaven are you doing?" Krystal asked.

"Why would the Aparoids attack a planet that is the furthest away from Corneria, when they were practically at your planet's doorstep?" he asked, turning to face them.

"What do you mean?" Fox asked.

"Think about it for a moment. They were first sighted at Katina, then moved to Fichina, putting them closer to Corneria, then Meteo, which is the final barrier between them and the planet. Now, they are on _the other side_ of the system. It just doesn't add up." The room was silent for a moment, until Peppy spoke up.

"Steven does have a point. They were so close to Corneria, then they just backed off. But, why would they do that?"

"Is there something significant about Sauria? Something on the planet that would interest them?" he asked Fox.

"No. Sauria has little to no technology at all. And the inhabitants there are no longer warlike."

"They wouldn't just head there on a whim, not unless it gave them a tactical advantage." Steven said, whirling back at the map.

"There is…one thing." Slippy said. All eyes were on him now. He looked at them, then shrugged. "Well, don't you guys remember? It's where we first met and picked up Krystal, shortly before making her a member." the amphibian stated matter-of-factly. Realization set in, especially in Steven.

"That's it! That's the connection!"

"How so?" Falco asked.

"Out of all of the forces that they have come across in this system, aside from myself, you guys have been putting up a stiff resistance. They must find you to be a rather nasty thorn in their side. They probably attacked Sauria because they knew that you, of all the people living here, you would rise up to defend it." That was when Peppy hit on it.

"It's a diversion, or a trap."

"Exactly." Steven replied.

"But, how? How could they possibly know about Sauria?" Krystal asked.

"The Aparoids are cybernetic in nature. They probably were able to access your media records, and pretty much any other data storage for that matter, and learn all they needed to know about you. Like hooking up a computer to the internet, they were able to download the necessary information on you."

"Those lousy bugs!" Falco exclaimed.

"These things are smarter than we thought." Slippy said out loud.

"Looks like it. We underestimated the Aparoids again. And this time, it may cost us a planet." Peppy mused.

"So, that's the reason why they attacked Sauria? Just to lure us out?" Fox asked aloud. At that time, he felt even more rage build up. The thought of ravaging an innocent world was one thing, but to do so just to get to _them_ was quite another.

"But, what do we do?" Krystal asked. "Even is it is a trap, we cannot leave Sauria to its fate!"

"That's not what I'm saying at all." Steven replied.

"Then what are you saying?" Fox asked.

"We split up."

"What?" the vulpine asked.

"I'll stay here with Sebun and bolster Corneria's defenses. You guys head to Sauria and take care of what you have to." Steven said. He turned to leave, when Krystal spoke up.

"Steven?" The vulpine stopped, and looked at Krystal. She smiled slightly before replying. "Be careful…Steven." The vulpine nodded, then headed for the hangar. The vulpine transformed into his Ultra self, and flew off towards Corneria. Krystal watched him leave, and felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Fox asked. Krystal looked at him, then back out.

"I got this feeling, that something bad will happen to him…" the vixen said.

"Don't worry about Steven. He's been fighting these things for awhile now. If anyone can defend Corneria, besides us, it's him." Fox replied, trying to sound encouraging. Krystal nodded, but still had reserves. "Peppy, set a course for Sauria." The hare nodded, and the Great Fox opened its portal and headed for the beleaguered planet. Steven saw them leave, and secretly wished them luck, before entering Corneria's atmosphere.

In orbit around Sauria: Great Fox warped in at Sauria's orbit, the blue and green planet shining in Lylat's light. However, it was not as captivating as it normally would be, especially for Krystal. This close to the planet, the cries of the suffering hit her mind like a sledgehammer. She had to physically hold herself up on the railing, and consciously block out the voices to keep herself upright. It took her a moment, but she was able to stand up on her feet again. Fox saw the effort it took her, and lent his hand to her as she righted herself up. "I'll be alright," the vixen said, standing up. "It's just that, I've never felt so much pain before. Those people down there, they're in such suffering…"

"Don't worry, Krystal. We'll stop the Aparoids, before they can hurt anyone else." Slippy chimed in. Fox nodded in agreement.

"Alright people, this is how it's going to happen; Krystal and I will head down to the surface and wipe out the Aparoids on land. Falco and Slippy, the skies are yours."

"A mission together at last." Krystal said, a grin on her features.

"Oh. Uh, yeah." Fox said, awkwardly.

"What are you two doing? let's get going already!" Falco said as he headed for the hangar. He was followed by Slippy, then Fox and Krystal. Peppy shook his head while wearing an amused smile on his wizened face as he turned back to his console.

In orbit around Corneria: After telling General Pepper that the Aparoids will be, most likely, heading for Corneria, Shodai and Sebun acted as the first line of defense against the oncoming swarm, while a fleet of Cornerian cruisers came in from behind. The space in front of them seemed peaceful enough, with the Meteo Asteroid Belt in the background acting as a barrier. However, from the belt, they came. First in dozens, then in hundreds, the Aparoid swarm bore down on the planet before them that was guarded by a large fleet of warships, and two of the only race that has actually withstood the invasion. Sebun and Shodai looked at eachother and gave a quick nod, then got into their combat stances, facing off against the oncoming horde.

Sauria: While the planet, when viewed from space, looked like a jewel, it was hell on the surface. Fox was running through the open field with Krystal, heading for the ruins that laid atop a small hill that overlooked a vast waterfall. They were running from a swarm of Aparoids, who were taking potshots at the two foxes. All around them, the Aparoids came out of the woodwork while the native dinosaurs lied around the ground, dead, dying, or being assimilated into the Aparoids' collective. "We need to reach the ruins. We can hold off the Aparoids from there!" Fox said as he ran as fast as he could. Krystal couldn't reply, but still ran as fast as she could, he breath coming out in gasps. Laser fire still danced around them, and when they started up the hill, their legs burned in protest from the strain. Still, they made it to the ruins, the laser fire being unable to penetrate toe age-old stone of the structure. The larger Aparoids were unable to fit inside the openings, and shrieked at the two foxes. Krystal, still panting, looked up and saw a stairwell leading up to the top of the building. She tapped Fox on the shoulder, and gestured for him to look up. He did so, and nodded at Krystal, getting the idea. When both made their way up, they could see just how bad the infection had spread; Bodies littered the field that the duo had just ran across for their lives, while the Aparoids appeared to have lost interest and moved off. All around them, signs of the Aparoid infection was apparent. The pulsing blue growths that showed signs of Aparoid cells infecting other organisms, had spread along the field, jungle, and bodies of the dinosaurs. The scene looked like something from a nightmare, turned from a beautiful place, to something terrible and alien. Krystal saw this, and felt anger and disgust well up.

"Poor beautiful Sauria…they won't get away with this!" she said. Fox placed a hand on her shoulder, and shook it in a friendly way. Then, he brought up his communicator, and keyed the Great Fox.

"Peppy, can you locate the Aparoid Hatchers?"

"Way ahead of ya, Fox. I've sent the data to your NAVI. You should receive it in seconds."

"Good. Send a tank down here, while your at it." Fox replied.

"I was just waiting for you to send the word." Peppy replied. A second later, a Landmaster arrives, jut in front of the ruins. Fox looked back behind him, seeing Krystal looking at the destruction to the planet that she held dear.

"Krystal, we have to move." Fox said. The vixen looked at him, and nodded. As Fox moved towards the Landmaster, Krystal brought her own communicator to her muzzle.

"Peppy, this is Krystal."

"I read you."

"I need some heavy weaponry down here. Think you can whip something up for me?" she asked.

"Little lady, have I got just the thing for you." Peppy said. He turned to face ROB, a smirk underneath his mustache. "ROB, go over to the storage unit, and teleport the container marked 'HL-210'."

"Affirmative." ROB replied in his monotone voice. The automaton walked out of the room, and into the Great Fox's hold. There, he found a container that was roughly five and half feet in length, and three feet in width, with the characters 'HL-210' printed in military fashion. Taking the container to the transporter, ROB activated the machine, and in seconds, the container and several crates arrived at Krystal's position. The vixen looked behind her, and saw the container and crates materialize on the stone floor of the ruins. She walked over to the container, and undid the locks on the lid and opened it. She saw the contents, and a smile played itself on her muzzle. She put the communicator to her face again.

"Thank you, Peppy." she said, as sweetly as possible.

"No problem, Krystal. Have fun with your new toy." Peppy replied, a smile under his mustache. On the surface, Fox was in the tank, blasting away at the Aparoids from afar, as well as running them over when they got close enough. Up in the air, Slippy and Falco were at odds with the airborne Aparoids. Even though outnumbered dozens to two, the pilots were able to down any of the drones that were unlucky enough to get caught in their line of sight. Slippy looked behind him, and saw a couple of the drones starting to tail him. However, it was when they started to fire at him that he began to panic.

"Someone help!" Slippy yelled. Then, the two drones exploded in a mix of fire and debris. Slippy looked behind him, and saw a trail of smoke leading away from him, and towards the ruins. He looked down at the structure, and saw Krystal holding the Homing Launcher on her shoulder, looking through the eye-piece, a satisfied smile on her features. She looked up, and waved at Slippy. The amphibian gave her a thumbs up, and flew back into the mass of flying drones. Krystal turned her attention back to the ground, as more Aparoids took notice of her, and started to move towards her. She took aim at the nearest one, and fired. The projectile took the Aparoid, and a few other drones, in a consuming ball of fire. Krystal still kept her smile as she took aim at another and fired again. Fox saw this through his HUD, and couldn't help but laugh at the sight. He saw an Aparoid Hatcher, and took aim with his cannon. The resulting blast destroyed the Hatcher, and the surrounding drones. Only a handful of the Hatchers were on the planet, but that was enough for the Aparoids to gain a foothold on Sauria. As Fox turned the war machine around, He caught sight of a couple of the Hatchers attached to the outer surface of the ruins. He was afraid that if he shot at the structure, he could endanger Krystal due to falling debris kicked loose by the blast. However, he didn't need to be concerned with her, or the Hatchers; Krystal already saw them, and fired two homing missiles. The projectiles streaked towards them, and both were engulfed in a fiery blaze. Krystal looked at the Landmaster, and winked. Three down, only four more to go. Fox caught sight of another pair near the outskirts of the jungle. Running over drones as he made his way towards them, the tank fired at the two circular objects with deadly precision, eliminating both of them at once. The remaining two, however, were not on the surface, but below it. Fox saw the entrance leading into the lower levels of the ruins, to the underground shelters where the Dinosaurs hid. Hopping out of the tank, the vulpine made a mad dash into the tunnel. Armed with his blaster and several grenades, Fox trotted further into the cavers, which was lit by overhanging lanterns. A twist and a turn later, had him staring right into a nest of drones, and the two Hatchers therein. He was too far away to accurately throw a grenade into the nest, and the drones would most certainly not allow him to get closer. And what's worse, is that they saw him. Shrieking, the drones converged upon Fox, who started to blast away at the horde, but the sheer numbers of the drones and the Hatchers that replaced the fallen, were making it difficult for Fox. Soon, he was backed into a corner, with almost no way out. Almost. He pulled out a grenade, and looked at the oncoming horde. At this close range, using a grenade could be deadly. However, he didn't see any other choice. Fortunately, he didn't have to make that choice; a streaking red projectile flew right into the middle of the horde, and detonated, taking the horde with it while Fox shielded himself from the blast. Once the ringing in his ears subsided and the dust and smoke settled, he saw the burning, charred remains of the Aparoids, and a female form walking towards him with a Homing Launcher. Krystal walked past the dead bodies of the drones, wearing a smirk on her muzzle.

"Where would you be without me?" she asked. Fox returned the smirk, and threw the grenade at the Hatchers, which were now reproducing new drones, not that they would do much good anyway. In seconds, the two Hatchers were destroyed, and Fox and Krystal ran out of the tunnel, just in time to avoid the earth-shaking explosion that followed. Realizing that the Hatchers have been destroyed, the drones on the ground and in the air retreated. Slippy and Falco picked off the stragglers, while Krystal and Fox mopped up the area. Several hours later, the sun was setting on a rather peaceful landscape. Fox and Krystal were overlooking the landscape.

"Looks like almost all of the Aparoids have been wiped out." Fox commented.

"Sauria should be safe for a long time to come." Krystal replied. Just then, they hear the sound of something large coming right at them from behind. They turn suddenly, and smile at the sight. After all, the person coming at them hasn't seen either of them since he was a child.

"FOOOOXXXX!" Tricky screamed, jumping up in the air in joy.

"Tri-!" Fox couldn't finish, as Tricky's massive frame smashed into him. When Fox left, Tricky had barely reached his knee. Now, however, he was the size of most young Ceratopsians. And this particular one was as jovial as ever.

"Fox, Krystal! I knew you'd come! Thank you so much!" the young ruler of the Earth Walker tribe exclaimed.

"Tricky… So heavy… Ouch…" Fox gasped as he had the couple-ton dinosaur on him, while Krystal laughed. After prying him off of Fox, Tricky was giving them a lift back to one of the arwings on his back.

"So, Fox… You're here to fight 'em, right? Well, I'm going with ya!" the young ruler said, full of confidence.

"Uhm, I appreciate it, but you're needed here, old pal. I'm leaving Sauria in your care. Don't forget, you're the leader now, Tricky." The young dinosaur seemed downtrodden, but only for an instant. Then, he perked up.

"Ok… Mm, I'll do it! Yeah, yeah! I'll take care of things here, so you two can come back on your honeymoon!" Fox was nodding in agreement, until Tricky mentioned the part about the honeymoon. Then, that's when he started to lose his temperament.

"What are you, nuts?! We're aren't… We're not yet… Uh… Uhm…" Fox stammered. He looked back, but Krystal only gave him a mischievous grin.

"'Not yet'?" Tricky asked, puzzled.

"Uh, uh… I mean, this isn't a conversation for children!" Fox said, trying to salvage the situation.

"You said that you weren't gonna treat me like a kid anymore!" Tricky protested.

"So stop acting like one!" Fox retorted.

"You're just mad 'cause you don't wanna talk about it." Tricky said. Krystal was having a laugh at this.

"Alright, that's enough, boys." Krystal said, getting over her laughing fit.

Just outside Corneria: The Aparoid swarm made its way to the planet, the fleet that had been dispatched to deal with it, now floated in shambles across the star-studded space. Hundreds of Aparoids flew in towards the planet, confident that almost nothing can stand in their way. Elsewhere, Shodai floated amongst the debris, his eyes dull, and his warning light flashing rapidly, one thought going through his head; "Fox, Krystal, Sebun, everyone, I'm so sorry…" then, his vision swam and he blacked out.


	8. Brothers of Light, pt1

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

Chapter 8

Brothers of Light, pt.1

Several hours ago: It hadn't been five minutes yet, and already we were at a disadvantage. When Sebun and I rushed to meet the swarm head on in front of the Cornerian Fleet, we hardly knew what we were in for. In moments, both myself and my brother-in-arms had been swept over, as if a gigantic tidal wave of these damned things just washed over us. But still, we both fought on. Fighting back-to-back, we kept a sense where we were amid the chaos while we fought off the innumerable drones. However, even our own formidable weaponry seemed ineffective in putting a dent in their numbers. Sebun was swept away by the chaos, his cries still echoing in my ears. Strange, how I can remember all of this, while the swarm just bore down on me. My vision…going black…is this…the end?

Present: When the Great Fox warped into Corneria's airspace, what they saw chilled their souls; floating wreckage and debris of Cornerian ships littered space, while the dead corpses of the Aparoid drones floated alongside them. Everyone was speechless, taking in the scene in horrified silence. It wasn't until what seemed like an eternity that Slippy broke the silence. "Wh…what happened?" he asked, his voice quivering.

"The fleet…just…gone…" Peppy said.

"No. While we were gone at Sauria, they must have…" Fox started, but couldn't finish.

"It would seem, that Steven was right all along." Peppy said, finding his voice once more. "This whole thing was a setup."

"I don't believe it…" Krystal said. "We saved Sauria, only to find that Corneria had been attacked?"

"But, what about Steven?" Slippy asked. Just then, the intercom went off, and General Pepper's face filled the screen.

"General Pepper, sir!" Fox said. The general had a grave look about him, making the wizened hound seem even older.

"Star Fox, heed closely what I am about to say. While you were away on Sauria, the majority of the Cornerian Defense fleet…was decimated. A colossal Aparoid armada appeared, and swept over us like we were nothing."

"But…how could this happen?" Fox asked, his head in his hands.

"And what about Steven?" Krystal asked. General Pepper turned to her.

"I am truly sorry, Krystal."

"What…you mean that…he's…"

"From what I was able to gather, both he and Dan were the first ones to engage the armada, and kept them busy long enough for what was left of the fleet to head back to Corneria. Their brave sacrifice, will not be in forgotten." The words hit Krystal like a hammer blow to the gut. Hearing how the same alien being that she befriended months ago having been killed left her weak-kneed. "I know that you were particularly close to him, but we cannot grieve now. The one silver lining is that you are all okay. You are our last hope, Star Fox. The invasion is progressing at an incredible speed." Fox turned to ROB.

"What are the conditions on the surface?" he asked. The automaton typed several commands into the consol that brought up several blurred images, along with the general's.

"Radar jammers are in place. Radar use is impossible." ROB replied in his monotone voice.

"Dang it!" Fox shouted.

"The Aparoids are using radar jamming devices based on technology that we know nothing of." General Pepper replied.

"That's not important, we can still demolish 'em!" Fox replied.

"Possibly…but you must attack them directly from the surface." General Pepper said, shaking his head ruefully.

"Please, hurry Fox. We are already…" General Pepper's image just winked out, the 'connection lost' logo flashing across the screen.

"General Pepper!" Fox called.

"Oh, no! He's in real trouble." Peppy said.

"Forget this! I'm going planet side and taking out those jammers!" Fox said, adamant.

"What? Going solo again?" Falco said.

"We can't risk all of us getting killed, can we?" Fox replied. "If I don't make it, I want you to go next." Fox said, pointing at Falco.

"Yeah, whatever. Just get outta here and smash those blasted radar jammers, will ya?" Falco replied, heading for the hangar. Despite the rather cold remark, both he and Fox know that Falco will carry that order out if he has to. As the team was leaving for the hangar, only Krystal and Peppy remained.

"Are you alright, Krystal?" Peppy asked.

"I knew something like this would happen…" the vixen replied, looking at the floor.

"Listen, what happened to Steven was no one's fault, especially not yours." Peppy said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He knew what he was getting into, and if it wasn't for him, a lot more people would have died if he hadn't remained." Krystal seemed unconvinced, in that she just kept staring at the floor.

"The best thing to do for him, right now, is to make sure that these things do not hurt any one else. It's what he would want, right?" Krystal looked up at the warm, smiling face of the elder hare, and tried to smile back. Peppy nodded. "Atta girl." Peppy said. Krystal nodded, and headed for the hangar.

Corneria City: The city was under siege, if it could be called that. While Aparoid drones patrolled the streets, they certainly weren't alone. Cornerian soldiers, those that were unfortunate enough to get caught by the Aparoids, had been assimilated by the aliens, and also roamed the city streets with their drone counter parts. The soldiers had signs of Aparoid infection, in that the growths glowed and pulsed in various parts of their bodies, staining their green uniforms, while their visors glowed a light purple, and a central growth on the chest also glowed the same hue, pulsing like a heart beat. From above, projectiles bombarded the city while ruined buildings stood with flickering holograms in between them, like some parody of what a normal day in the city was like. Fox entered the city, and what he saw appalled him. "Did they say this was Corneria?" Fox asked aloud. He brought his communicator to his muzzle and spoke. "This is Fox. I'm going after the jammers."

"Don't worry too much about the drones running around, just concentrate on those jammers." Peppy said.

"On it." Fox replied just before he headed out. Running behind a building, Fox can see several projectiles destroy a highway bridge, leaving a several meter long gap between the structures, while the remains crashed to the street below. In the air, the vulpine saw the 'Aparoided' Cornerian fighters patrolling the airspace, along with airborne drones, and something else; looking like floating eyeballs, Fox deduced these to be the jammers. They were several meters in length, dark purple in color with long spikes coming out along the corners and floated stationary in one spot. The reason why Fox thought that these were the jammers, was because every time he looked at his navi to check their position, a green blob, indicating radar interference, was directly above their location. 'Bull's eye.' Fox thought. Pulling his pack from behind him, he pulled out several pieces of equipment. Setting them in front of him, he put them together to form a long-barreled rifle with a scope on the top. Thinking it a good idea, Fox decided it a good idea to bring the sniper rifle with him. Looking through the scope, he caught sight of the closest jammer, and prepared to fire. It was facing away from him, but through the scope, it turned, and it looked like the eye opened, and was looking right at him with a glowing red pupil with a yellow corneas. Fox squeezed the trigger, sending the round hell-bent towards its target. The jammer was consumed in an explosion, sending debris to the ground below. 'One down, five more to go.' Fox thought grimly. In the air, the rest of the team flew above the city, unable to enter it, due to the amount of interference from the radar jammers. However, they could see plainly the destruction below.

"This is…horrible…" Slippy said. Everyone silently agreed. Not since the Lylan Wars when Andross tried to take over the system several years ago had the city seen such devastation. Krystal was looking at the scene with sadness welling up. And yet, she looked up into the sky, her thoughts going to one person, and hoping that Steven was up there, somewhere.

In Corneria's orbit: Amid the debris floating through space, there is one shape that stands out. Shodai, the Space Patrol man from the planet M78, floats listlessly through the cosmos. His eyes are dull, and his warning light is flashing at an abnormally slow pace. Unconscious, he dreams of his past battles, both here, and elsewhere. On a blue and green world, he remembers a certain person, whom he had a tragic fateful encounter. Feeling sorrow, he merges his life-force with the dying man, and both of them protected the world. However, he had to leave, and return home. Then, he was sent here for the first time, in pursuit of Baltan III, and that's where he met…her. 'Krys…tal.' Shodai thinks numbly. Then, his mind goes dark once more.

Corneria City: After thirty, agonizing minutes, Fox had been able to dwindle the jammers number down from six, to only two. Racing between several buildings, he almost ran right into a squad of infected Cornerian soldiers. They pointed their weapons at him, and Fox could only stare at the ones who thought him a hero, now were being controlled to kill him. Despite the predicament, the vulpine just couldn't bring himself to pull his gun on them. They fired. Acting with swiftness, Fox ducked behind the building, while green laser fire bit into the metal structure. He tried to back-step out of the area, but he was cut-off again, by a Cornerian security cruiser, the armored vehicle showing signs of the Aparoid infection. The main laser was pointed directly at him, and Fox could see the pilot and co-pilot inside. Nimbly, he jumped onto the roof, and dashed away from the vehicle while the laser swiveled around and fired at him. 'I need to find another way around.' Fox thought. He could still see the radar jammer, floating in the air. However, the buildings were obstructing his view to snap off a quick shot. He needed to get higher. Entering the building that he ducked behind, he climbed up the stairwell, until he could see the two remaining jammers. He took aim at the closest one with the sniper rifle, and fired off a quick shot. It burst into flames, and the debris fell to the earth. The remaining one felt the demise of its brethren, and opened its eye in Fox's direction. The vulpine saw this, and felt a shiver go down his spine when he saw the eye look at him. Then, it glowed, and a type of laser fired right at him. Fox evaded the laser, and hurriedly went down the stairwell again, and left the building. As luck would have it, the jammer was heading right for him, hoping to finish the job that it started. However, once it got close enough, Fox chucked a grenade at it, taking with it the jammer in a large explosion. Just then, a voice crackled over Fox's earpiece.

"Good work, Fox. The radar jammers are now gone. We can use radar again." Peppy said.

"Good, now we can…" Just then, a new voice was coming over the earpiece. It was faint, and distorted, but Fox could definitely hear it.

"Hello…anyone…out there?"

"General Pepper?!" Fox called.

"Fox? Is that you?" General Pepper asked.

"Where are you, sir?" Fox asked.

"Inside the Cornerian Military Building. Myself and several of my staff are being held here by my own soldiers."

"Hold on, General. I'm on my way." Fox said.

"You heard the general, Fox. Get down there right away. The others can mop up the area." Peppy said.

"Right." Fox headed for the building, which was only a couple of blocks away from his current position.

Corneria's orbit: The sun was coming out on the other side of the planet, and with its light, it shined down on a single floating individual. Shodai felt the warmth of Lylat's light, and felt the warm solar energy reach his warning light. Then, his eyes flashed to life.

Corneria City: After finding the domed-shape building, he entered through the main entrance, and went down the hallway. He saw a couple of guards standing beside the door marked "General Pepper" on the glass window on the door. Fox brought up his blaster, and took aim. The first guard went down with the first shot, whereas the other one rolled to the side to avoid the second. The Aparoid-infected soldier brought his rifle up to shoot at Fox, but the vulpine was quicker. He snapped off two shots, one in the chest, the other in the head. He went down like a bag of rocks. Fox moved over towards him, and saw the glow die from his visor, and felt sorrow well up from his chest. However, he repressed is as best he could, grief would have to come later. The door was locked, and Fox blasted the knob with his gun, the door swinging open from the blast. Inside, he could see the general, and several of his aides.

"Fox! Impeccable timing, per usual." General Pepper said. There were four other people in the room with him, none of them looked to be infected by the Aparoids. As the general and the others followed Fox out of the building, one thing gnawed at Fox's mind.

"General, why did the Aparoids only capture you guys, and not turn you into one of them?"

"That is a good question, Fox. When they found us, just shortly after they touched down in the city, several of my soldiers who were already infected just shoved the others into my office and locked the door. However, one of them said something that I thought strange."

"What's that?" Fox asked.

"They said something about a 'Destroyer' coming here, to purge the planet." on of the aides said. Fox turned to him.

"A Destroyer?" he asked. The aide, a German Shepherd in a light green uniform with a Captain's rank only shrugged in response. "But then, why just leave you guys alive?" he asked aloud. Reaching outside, Fox could see the arwings flying overhead, firing upon the airborne units, as well as making strafing runs on the drones below. The aides looked at the scene of destruction with despair rising in their hearts, as their home was under siege. General Pepper kept his face stoic, but no doubt felt the same way as the others. Then, one of them said something, and pointed to the sky above them. Fox looked up, and saw it; whatever it was, it was heading right for them. It was glowing a bright purple and lavender, and as it got closer, Fox could make out the shape inside to be humanoid, and it grew ever larger as it got closer. When it landed in the middle of the city, it did so with a large impact that sent shockwaves through the ground that knocked the others off of their feet. It knocked over several buildings, and a crater was left of its landing. It was on a knee, its back turned to them, but Fox could make out a pattern on its body, one that seemed almost familiar to him. Then, it stood up, its height was easily fourty meters. Fox could see the fin on its head, and his breath caught in his throat. It turned, and Sebun was looking right at them. However, now Fox understood who the so called 'Destroyer' was, when he saw what had happened to Sebun. His body was covered with Aparoid growths, throwing pulsing patches of blue and purple that stained his red and silver body. Along his legs, abdomen, and chest the growths glowed and pulsed with a life of their own. Even his eyes, which were once shining yellow, now glowed purple. It looked down at them, and Fox felt a cold fear when Aparoid Sebun did so. Then, it looked around itself, and raised its arms slightly, as if to take in the scene of destruction. The rest of the Star Fox team saw Aparoid Sebun touch down and rise, shock coming over them.

"Is that…Dan?" Slippy asked.

"It…can't be…he's been turned into an Aparoid." Falco said.

"No…Dan…" Krystal uttered. Her thoughts went to Steven, wondering if the same fate had befallen him as well.

"All for us. Everything in this universe exists for us." a voice said in their heads. It sounded like Dan's voice, only warped. "You will join us, or face oblivion." Then, Aparoid Sebun turned to face the ground group, and raised a hand at them. The hand glowed with purple energy, and a violet blast erupted from the palm. Fox and the others had barely enough time to get out of the way. Fox ran towards the thing, hoping to distract it, while General Pepper and the others retreated to the relative safety of the military building. As Fox ran at the thing, he fired his blaster at it, the blue and red blasts sending sparks from the points that they struck, but did almost no damage whatsoever. It was like using a peashooter against a battleship. Aparoid Sebun took notice of Fox, and fired at him, the violet blasts exploding all around him and sending debris every which way, but Fox was able to evade the worst of it. Ducking behind a building, he sought to catch his breath, when the voice spoke again. "Why do you resist, when you know it is hopeless? It will be easier for all of you to just surrender." Then, several explosions blossomed behind it, as Aparoid Sebun whirled at saw the three arwings flew overhead.

"We fight because we will _not_ give in to the likes of you!" Krystal replied. "You may have the advantage over us, but that does not mean that we will stop fighting! If you knew anything about our kind, then you would know that one of our strengths is perseverance."

"It does not matter how hard you fight. The outcome will be the same in the end." Aparoid Sebun replied as he tried to swat the fighters out of the air.

"We won't bow down to you!" Krystal retorted. "I'd rather die, then join you!" Just then, a large fist enclosed itself around Krystal's fighter, and Aparoid Sebun looked at her as it brought the arwing to its face.

"So be it." Aparoid Sebun said. He tightened his grip on the arwing. Fox felt his throat tighten when he saw Aparoid Sebun grab Krystal's arwing. He fired at the giant Aparoid, but his blasts did little to nothing against the titan. The canopy started to crack from the immense pressure that was being pressed against it, and alarms went off inside Krystal's cockpit. The vixen tried vainly to break free, but knew it was hopeless.

"Fox…" she said to herself.

"KRYSTAL!" Fox shouted. Just then, a bright, white ring of energy sliced itself along Aparoid Sebun's wrist, making it groan in pain and forcing it to release the arwing. Krystal regained control of her craft, and saw from above another form flying right at the giant Aparoid.

"SHUWATCH!" With a loud shout, Shodai executed a drop kick on Aparoid Sebun, knocking back into several office buildings. Shodai landed on his feet in a combat stance, then straight up. Aparoid Sebun regained its composure, and faced the new threat.

"My brother, join me." Aparoid Sebun said, reaching out with his hand. Shodai seemed to consider, then balled his hands into tight fists.

"The Sebun that trained and fought side-by-side with would _never_ join you of his own free will! He's still in there, fighting you, I can feel it. And with that, I know that I can bring him back!" Shodai got back into his combat stance with a shout, challenging his former brother-in-arms. Aparoid Sebun lowered its arm.

"Unfortunate. You would have made a fine addition to the hive…" it said. Then, it got back into its own combat stance, and lunged at Shodai. The red and silver warrior braced himself, and caught the impact full on in the chest, but still held Aparoid Sebun at bay. They grappled with eachother, until Shodai sent tow karate chops to the other's shoulder, making him Back off. Then, he kicked Sebun in the chest, but the Aparoid caught it, and pushed back with all of its might, sending Shodai to the ground. The Warrior of Light looked up in time to see Aparoid Sebun remove the fin on his head, and brandish it threateningly. Aparoid Sebun lunged forward, intending to behead the Warrior of Light, but Shodai reacted with swiftness, rolling to the left. He got up to a knee, his arms raised in a combat stance. Slowly, he got back to his feet, while Aparoid Sebun brandished his blade threateningly. Both giant warriors circled eachother. Then, Sebun threw the fin at Shodai, who evaded the attack, and turned to rush at Aparoid Sebun. However, Shodai felt a great pain explode across his back, making him stumble and fall to the ground. He looked up, and saw Sebun's fin, the Eye Slugger, spinning around in the air like it had a life of its own. It flew past Aparoid Sebun, then flew back Shodai. The Warrior of Light got back to his feet, and brought up his Light Barrier, the wall of light deflecting the weapon successfully. It flew back to Aparoid Sebun's head, and the Aparoid got back into its combat stance. Shodai lunged at the giant Aparoid, sending both combatants to the ground. They rolled around until Shodai threw Aparoid Sebun off of him, and the Warrior of Light dragged the giant Aparoid to its feet. Then, Shodai shoulder-tossed him to the ground, and threw several chops to its face for good measure. However, Aparoid Sebun struck out with a jab to Shodai's stomach, making the giant warrior double over in pain. Aparoid Sebun got back up, and spin-kicked Shodai in the face, knocking him to the ground. It mounted the red and silver warrior, and delivered blow after blow to the Warrior of Light. Shodai was doing all he could do to ward off the attack, his powerful arms raised to defend against the hammer-like strikes of Aparoid Sebun. However, when Aparoid Sebun wielded the Eye Slugger, Shodai knew that his Light Barrier would be of no use while his opponent was on top of him like this. Just as Aparoid Sebun was about to deliver the killing blow, several explosions blossomed along Aparoid Sebun's spine, making it groan in pain while the three arwings flew overhead. Shodai lifted his leg, and threw Aparoid Sebun off of him. His warning light was going at a steady pace, indicating that he had to wrap this fight up quickly. Aparoid Sebun recovered, and was in a kneeling combat stance, his Eye Slugger clutched in a tight fist. It lunged at Shodai, hoping to gash the Warrior of Light with the weapon, but Shodai knocked it out of its hand just before it made contact, and brought his knee into its midsection, making it fall to the ground. Shodai picked up the Eye Slugger while Aparoid Sebun got to its feet again. The Aparoid looked at Shodai as he wielded the weapon in a threatening way. "Do you plan on using that against your own comrade?" Aparoid Sebun asked. Shodai seemed to falter from this. "This is the result of imperfection. Your kind exterminates what you do not understand to protect other, more primitive civilizations who fear the unknown. We offer perfection. The races that we have assimilated no longer suffer from these imperfections like greed, vanity, fear, or hatred. We have eliminated all of these." Shodai seemed to listen to its words, while still clutching the Eye Slugger. "What you see as something to be feared and shunned, should probably be accepted. Join us, and know the true meaning of existence." Once more, Aparoid Sebun reached out its hand in offering to Shodai. The Warrior of Light looked at the Eye Slugger, then at the hand, then back at the Eye Slugger. What it had said is true. More primitive races have feared what they don't understand, and have often destroyed what they do not comprehend. His own race, before they evolved, was no exception.

"Steven, don't listen to it!" Shodai looked down, and saw Fox looking right up at him. "It says that it offers perfection, but we all know, especially you, that they offer enslavement and destruction! You should know! You have seen the horrors of what they have done to countless people! Look around You! Does this look like perfection to you?!" Fox made a sweeping motion around him, and Shodai looked at the destruction that the Aparoids had caused, and continue to do. Shodai just found his resolve once more, and brandished the Eye Slugger at his once brother-in-arms.

"That is your desire? Very well." Aparoid Sebun lunged at Shodai, with the Ultra Crusader doing the same. Both struck eachother, and landed on opposite sides from eachother. Shodai had the Eye Slugger held out in front of him, while Aparoid Sebun had his hand out, fingers outstretched in the form of a judo chop. Then, Aparoid Sebun clutched his side, and fell forward with a groan. Shodai dropped the Eye Slugger, and turned to face Aparoid Sebun. The Aparoid got to its feet again, and faced Shodai, still clutching the wound on its side.

"Forgive me, my brother." Shodai said. He thrusted his arms out to his sides, cross-style, then brought them in to a plus shape. The powerful Spacium Ray fired from the edge of the right hand and struck Aparoid Sebun in the chest. Several explosions blossomed from the impact area, and Aparoid Sebun fell back with a groan. Rushing to his side, Shodai held Aparoid Sebun in his arms, while an amazing transformation took place; the places where the Aparoid infection was most apparent seemed to fade away. Soon, the signs of infection were barely noticeable, and Sebun's eyes started to glow their original color. "Sebun, hold on! I'll find help for you!" Shodai said to his dying friend.

"It is…alright, Shodai. You did the best thing, that any Ultra Crusader could have done."

"No…please, don't be another casualty from this, don't be another innocent victim that I had to put down…" Shodai was starting to choke up from this, as he could feel the life fading from Sebun's body.

"It has…been good…fighting beside you again, old friend." Sebun said, weakly. Then, his eyes faded and dulled, while Shodai shook him, called his name, trying, hoping, that he didn't just kill his closest friend. For those close enough, one could hear the soft sobs escaping the emotionless visage of the Ultra as he held the other close. Then, both disappeared in a shimmer of light. The arwings, having witnessed the spectacle, landed near the site. Krystal, Falco, and Slippy hopped out of their fighters, and were joined by Fox.

"Where's Steven at?" Falco asked.

"I don't know…" Fox replied.

"Look! There!" Slippy said, pointing to the left of them. Then, they could see it. A figure was walking towards them from the rubble, carrying something in its arms. Once it was closer, Steven was seen walking towards them, carrying a body in his arms. The team ran towards him, then stopped just short of him when they saw the form that he was carrying; still having the signs of the Aparoid infection, the comatose form of Dan, AKA Sebun, was being held limply in Steven's arms. However, it wasn't even that that made the team step out of the way of the vixen. Even when he got clear of the team, Steven already had a steady stream of tears going down his angry vulpine face as he made his way towards the nearest hospital.


	9. Brothers of Light, pt2

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

Chapter 9

Brothers of Light, pt.2

Shodai was patrolling the outer rim of the Mantra System, along with Sebun, and half a dozen new recruits, fresh from the academy and eager to start their own adventures in serving tours of service on alien worlds. This was to be their first mission of many. Also, it was here that they discovered a disturbance. Thinking it a good idea to test the new recruits, Zoffy, commander of the Space Garrison Forces, decided to test them out in what seemed like a harmless assignment. Sebun and Shodai, senior members of the Garrison, went along to make sure nothing went wrong. Upon reaching the system, Both Ultras took notice of how quiet things seemed to have gotten. The inhabitants of the Mantra system have discovered space travel, and trade amongst eachother frequently. However, no ship, cruiser or transport could be found, nor could any sign of life be detected on the planets in the system. At least, not the life forms that they were looking for. Upon reaching the planet that was the seat of government in the Mantra system, the Ultras were in for a nasty shock; the inhabitants of the planet had been assimilated by an unknown force, and it was reaching up towards the patrol. That, was the first encounter with the Aparoids. Acting with swiftness, Sebun and Shodai called for a retreat from the system, but some of the younger warriors saw this as a test of their abilities, and would not run from a fight. They never lasted more than a minute against the immense swarm. Out of the six, only two remained, Jack and Ace, and beat a hasty retreat back to M78, to tell the rest of the Ultra race of the horrible fate that had befallen the Mantra System. After that, more and more of the Aparoids have been making appearances all over the galaxy. The Space Garrison was stretched thin, almost to the breaking point, and it had been many months fighting trying to restore order to a war-torn galaxy. Only the more remote systems like Sol and Lylat were spared the ravages, but only for so long. And not long after, the Aparoids have turned their sights to Lylat itself. Seeing the system as a stepping stone for assaulting the Land of Light, home of the Ultra race, they attacked Lylat with post haste. However, the Aparoids did not count on tangling with the legendary Star Fox team. Along with Shodai, the team was able to stave off the invasion for some time, and do some damage to the Aparoid's war effort. They were becoming a problem to them, and needed to be eliminated. That is the real reason why Steven, aka Shodai, is sitting in the hospital right now, while Dan, aka Sebun, is in the operating room. Steven was waiting on any word on his close friend's condition, having only fought him some time ago when he was possessed by the Aparoids, and turned into their personal soldier of destruction. After a hard fight, Shodai won, but not at a cost; Sebun was mortally wounded, and the Aparoid infection, though weakened, still held its grip on the Warrior of Light. After transporting Dan to the nearest medical facility, Steven has been waiting for a couple of hours, feeling a burning anger at what has happened, and at feeling utterly helpless to do anything. He was not alone, however. Krystal and Fox were in there with him. Steven sat on one of the waiting chairs, his head resting on his folded hands and staring out at the door, waiting, willing, for it to open. The pair stood next to him, wanting to console their friend, but what could they say to him, that he probably hasn't already heard before? Jut then, Fox's communicator just went off, and he brought the device to his face. "This is Fox."

"General Pepper here. We found the location of the Aparoids' homeworld!" the hound said. This time, Steven's head turned away from the door and up at Fox. "Head back to the Great Fox, and I'll give you the rundown."

"Understood, General." Fox said. Krystal and Fox went to leave, but Steven hesitated. Both vulpines saw this. "Steven, there's nothing that you can do here. We need to head back to the ship."

"I want to be here, I want to know, whether or not I'd have to be the one who killed him…"

"Don't think like that. Dan is in the best possible hands right now, and-"

"'Best possible hands'?" Steven asked, cutting Krystal off. "Your kind has no idea what they are up against here. We tried to stop the infection ourselves, but couldn't make any headway. I've seen Ultras get turned into Aparoids before, and I've seen them get treatment, only to have that treatment backfire in the most horrifying ways!" Steven stood up when he shouted this. Tears started to form in his eyes again. "Best possible hands? He couldn't be in a worse place right now…" Steven looked at the floor, feeling hopelessness well up inside of him. He sighed and looked up. "Forget what I said. Let's just go." The vulpine brushed past the other two and made for the exit, while the pair stared after him, wondering if what he had said is correct.

On board the Great Fox, Beltino's face filled the main screen. "We did it, team! We found the Aparoids' homeworld!" he said, excitedly.

"Great news, Beltino. Forward us the information and we can start the invasion!"

"Wait, you can't go yet." Beltino said. That's when Slippy cut in.

"Listen, dad. We're going and you can't stop us."

"I know that, son. But if you go as is, you'll just get killed! You need the self-destruct program!"

"Self-destruct program?" Slippy asked.

"Self-destruct program?" Steven asked, almost simultaneously.

"We have discovered that the Aparoids are vulnerable to apoptosis."

"Apoptosis?" Steven asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"You mean they have cells that are made for self-destruction?" Slippy asked.

"Exactly. I'm making a program that will cause a chain-reaction in those cells. You fire it into the queen, and all Aparoids will self-destruct!"

"Incredible! We'll wipe them out in one blow!" Fox said. Immediately after that, they heard sound. At first, it was indistinguishable, then they realized it came from Steven. He had his head down, but then they heard laughter from him, as if he just heard the most hilarious joke. "Steven?" Fox asked.

"Oh, it's all so ironic!" he said, laughing even more. The team looked at eachother, wondering if he had gone mad. "My kind has been fighting these things for half a year, and in just a few short weeks, it's _you _guys who not only find the location of their homeworld, but also their weakness. Ha ha ha ha ha!" After he calmed down a bit, the team had worried looks on their faces, even Beltino looked concerned. "You look at me as if I've gone insane." Steven said, still keeping his grin.

"Well, that little episode didn't help your case much." Falco said.

"I'll be fine. Let's just get this over with so myself and Sebun can finally go home." With that, still looking back over his shoulder, Fox turned back to the main screen.

"When can we expect the self-destruct program?" he asked. General Pepper appeared this time.

"It should be ready soon. Steven…" the other vulpine looked up. "I'll send you the coordinates, so you can send them to your people. I get the feeling that we're going to need all the help we can get."

"Of course." Steven said.

"Alright. We can finally begin the assault on the Aparoid homeworld, and finally be rid of this menace." Just then, ROB's voice was heard after General Pepper.

"A large Aparoid armada has appeared. They are targeting the Warp Gate." The screen shifted to the Warp Gate, and several signals, indicating the Aparoids, surrounding it.

"They're not gonna make our trip to their world an easy one…" Peppy said.

"Looks like they found out your little plan in advance. I wonder…" Steven mused.

"If they destroy the gate, then the program will be useless." Beltino chimed.

"Understood. We won't let the gate fall!" Fox said, adamantly. The screen switched off, and the team headed for the hangar.

In orbit, four arwings, an Ultra, and the Great Fox all circled around the Orbital Gate, while several Cornerian fighters acted as backup. The Gate Way was separated into two different parts; the main part was a large orbiting space station that had two segments over a circular ring that kept the station in orbit, while in front of the station was a large ring, which acted as the gate way itself, while the station provided power and coordinates. As the arwings and Cornerian fighters flew around the station, Shodai floated in front, keeping his glowing gaze outward, waiting for the Aparoids to show up. He didn't have to wait long; coming from the blackness of space, the first handful of drones was flying towards them. That's when Fox made the call. "Listen up, everyone, do whatever it takes to protect the gate."

"Understood." Krystal said. She targeted one of the lead Aparoid drones, but something else destroyed it. "Hey!" she shouted. Then, she saw Shodai rush at them, firing his Slash Ray and Spacium Ray at the swarm. The drones were wiped out in moments. However, they weren't even the tip of the ice burg. Coming in from all sides, the Aparoids descended upon the defenders. Star Fox mobilized at the first sight, but didn't act quick enough to destroy the first few before Shodai did. Acting with ruthlessness that the team hasn't seen before, the Warrior of Light decimated the Aparoids' front lines, his weaponry dealing death and destruction wherever he aimed. Even though he was surrounded by the Aparoids, he refused to give in. He was now fighting hand-to-hand with them, his punches, kicks, etc. dismantling the drones as they came at him. The Aparoids who were targeting the station were now focusing on the Ultra.

"What the heck's he doing?!" Falco asked. "They're swarming him!"

"He's acting as a decoy to keep the drones off of the gate." Peppy said.

'I don't think so…' Krystal thought. What she was feeling from Shodai was anything but strategy. What she felt was rage. Pure, unbridled fury. Shodai was on the warpath, and the Aparoids were the target. 'Steven…' Krystal shuddered from the rage that she felt, the emotions in him sending shivers down her spine. In his bloodlust, all Shodai could see was the target in front of him. He saw the monsters who claimed innocent lives, and brave soldiers who stood up against them. But more than that, he saw the murderers of his close friend. They twisted a good man, and turned him into their personal puppet.

"You…you don't DESERVE TO LIVE!" Shodai shouted as he dug deep within himself. His form started to glow, and then the glow entered his arms as he put them into a cross shape, and fired a concentrated Spacium Ray. The force of the attack propelled Shodai away from the swarm as the ray struck the mass of drones. Then, the center of the swarm glowed, and the dozens of drones was engulfed in a fiery macabre of flames and light. When the ray died, Shodai's arms hung limply from him, and he panted heavily, feeling like he just ran a marathon. The team was awestruck at what they saw. They knew that Shodai was powerful, but to see him single handedly wipe out a swarm like that…

"Whoa…" was all Slippy could say.

"All that power…" Krystal said. Even though there were still drones about, they were not nearly as many as they were before. However, it took its toll on the Warrior of Light. His warning light was flashing at a rapid pace, and his eyes looked dimmer than they were before. However, Lylat was just coming out of the horizon above Lylat. Shodai saw this, and he flew into its light. Immediately, the team saw the change; light from the sun entered Shodai's warning light, and it turned from red to blue. The Ultra turned to the team, and flew towards the station and flew towards it. That's when he felt it, a sensation like danger, coming from the station itself.

"You guys mop up out here, I need to check on the station!" he said as he flew into the hangar.

"The station?" Fox asked. However, before he can ponder further, he saw laser fire coming at him, and he evaded it just in time before it hit him. He looked, and saw more Aparoids coming right at them. "Reinforcements." he said to himself. He took aim at the nearest one and fired.

Inside the command room, several techies were busy at their consoles, either viewing the battle in space and guiding the fighters, or working on the self-destruct program that Beltino came up with. However, watching over everything was Beltino Toad and General Pepper, along with the general's aide as well. Beltino went over to one of the consoles that a rabbit sat at, and looked at the data that flashed across the screen. He was talking to him in a hushed tone, barely above a whisper. However, all were so engrossed that they didn't notice the aide coming up from behind Beltino, a blaster in hand. He pointed it at the amphibian's head, and General Pepper saw it too late to do anything than shout "STOP!" When Beltino whirled, he saw that the aide's eyes were glowing purple, and had a strange growth coming out of his neck that glowed purple and blue. However, just a millisecond before he squeezed the trigger, the wall next to the aide exploded at him, and Shodai flew in and tackled the assailant to the ground. The infected aide looked up, and the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was a silvery fist that flew right at him. Shodai got up off of the body, and saw everyone staring at him, and the guards had their rifles trained on him. "Lower your weapons, he's on our side." General Pepper said. The guards did as they were told, and General Pepper walked up to the Warrior of Light. He looked at his aide, and saw the telltale signs of Aparoid infection. "How did you know?" he asked Shodai.

"I'm able to sense these things. It wasn't until recently that I felt its presence." the Warrior of Light said.

"He was one of the aides that was with me on Corneria when it got attacked. Do you think that…" Just then, Shodai's eyes glowed, and they ran over the General. The hound was taken aback by this. And when it was over, Shodai nodded in satisfaction.

"What was that?" General Pepper asked.

"Just making sure that you were not infected." Shodai said. "What about the rest of your staff?"

"That's just it! They were with me when we got captured by the Aparoids! Do you think that they have the same conditions?" That's what Shodai was afraid of.

"Where are they now?" he asked.

"One is in the power room now. I…I sent him there to aid the technicians." General Pepper said, his head hanging.

"How many other aides are there besides these two?" Shodai asked.

"That's it, only them. The rest are on Corneria." Shodai nodded, and left the room. That was when the general contacted Fox. Inside the power room, the techies and engineers were busy at their respective stations, while the aide was overseeing everything. However, none seemed to notice the slight bluish growth on his neck, as he seemed to stare out into space, then nod as if he just received some unheard order. Pulling out his blaster, he made his way to the power core, where several technicians worked and jotted down notes and readings on their PADs. The power core itself was large, at least three times the size that they were and glowed a bright blue and was cylindrical in shape. None of them noticed the aide that was walking up to them, his weapon drawn. Then, one of them turned, and saw the blaster that was in his hand, and the sight of the growth on his neck and the glowing lavender eyes made his heart skip a couple of beats. Before he could utter a word, the blaster fired right in his chest, ending his life. The rest whirled at the sound of energy being discharged and saw the corpse of their colleague on the floor, a smoking hole in his chest and the infected aide standing before them with his gun pointed at them. Then, a bright flash erupted from behind the aide and he fell with a pained grunt. Just behind him, Shodai stood in his Spacium Ray pose, and dropped his arms as he went over to inspect the body. The person was alive, but would be out of it for quite some time. The techies were frozen to the spot in shock as the red and silver alien being walked over to them.

"Sorry about the mess, but is everything here alright?" he asked. One of them nodded, and Shodai returned it. Then, he pulled his teleportation trick and vanished from the room, leaving the personnel there dumbfounded.

"What?! You mean those guys were Aparoids as well?" Fox asked. He just received the news from General Pepper about his aides being infected, and suddenly it made sense to him. The extraction of the general and his staff _was_ a little easy, as well as the peculiarity that they were virtually untouched. "Well, now we know how the Aparoids were able to show up here so fast. They probably got wind of the self-destruct program from the spies that they planted."

"Undoubtedly, Fox. It would seem that the enemy never misses a trick. How goes the fight out there?"

"Actually, pretty well, all things considered. Steven took out most of them himself, leaving only the stragglers behind."

"Don't get comfortable just yet, Fox. We know from experience now that the Aparoids are nothing of not persistent. Keep on your toes." General Pepper signed off, leaving Fox to worry about the next thing that the Aparoids will throw at them. Just then,

Shodai was seen flying in front of him, blasting the Aparoids left and right with his Spacium Ray. Just then, ROB's monotone voice rang over the team's headsets'.

"WARNING! WARNING! Warp signature detected!" In front of them, where several Aparoid drones flew around, dozens of red hexagons appeared while something from behind came ever closer.

"What's that?!" Peppy asked.

"Giant Aparoid approaching." ROB sounded. Then, the hexagons vanished, revealing the Aparoid to be "Inbound missile."

"A missile?!" Indeed, the Aparoid was angular in shape with several stabilizers in the rear, and glowed green in several areas.

"Did you all hear that? Take down that missile!" Fox said. The projectile was making a steady b-line for the station.

"Listen to me team, don't waste a single shot. Something that gigantic will take out more than just the gate!" Peppy said. Falco was already on it, blasting it away with his dual lasers, the emerald shots grazing the outer hull, but doing only minimal damage.

"Is there any way to pierce this thing?!" the avian asked. Just then, two nova bombs flew at the bomb, both aimed at different areas; one at the thrusters, and the other at about halfway up the projectile itself. The first bomb detonated the thrusters, while the other blew the bomb in half. It exploded right then and there, doing no damage to anything. Fox was flying through the debris.

"Listen up everyone, aim for the thrusters and the middle section! Those are the only weak points!" Just then, two more missiles warped in. Slippy and Krystal dispatched one of them, copying Fox's maneuvers, while Fox and Falco did the same to the other. Then, _three_ more appeared, coming in from different sides this time.

"These things just don't give up!" Slippy said. He and Krystal took care of one, while Fox and Falco did the other. However, even if they were able to reach the third in time, they would not be able to stop it in time. Just then, Shodai flew in front of it, and fired his Spacium Ray. It seared and burned the outer hull, but that was it. It was now only a couple hundred meters away from the station. Shodai nodded, and decided to try something else; in some cases when his Spacium Ray failed, he always had a back-up weapon. He placed his arms at his sides, with the elbows bent at the waist. Then, energy went from his left arm, to his right. Then, he thrusted the right arm out in front of him, the hand in a fist as energy spiraled out of it and struck the missile. The projectile was frozen in place from the spiral beam when it died. Shodai then placed his arms in an 'X' shape in front of his warning light. The missile glowed, and then exploded into fragments. Few times have warranted the use of his Ultra Attack Beam, and this is one of those instances. However, it takes a toll on his energy reserves, but is fortunate that this was a relatively small target. The rest of the team flew around Shodai, seeing him float in space as he watched the fragments float every which way.

"What…was that?" Falco asked.

"You could call it my 'secret weapon'." Shodai replied.

"Secret weapon?" Fox asked. Shodai nodded.

"I use it only when my usual weaponry is rendered useless." Then, ROB's voice sounded again.

"Warp signature detected." More of the hexagonal shapes appeared, and something enormous flew out of them. "Another missile approaching."

"Ah, that looks bigger than a missile." Falco said. Both Shodai and the Star Fox team flew towards the missile while Aparoid drones tried to cut them off. No such luck, as the team and Shodai blasted them apart. Shodai fired the Ultra Attack Beam again, but the beam was just deflected off of it. He dropped his pose, surprised at this.

"Well…I'm open to any suggestions." he said, turning to the arwings. The team looked at eachother, wondering what all there is that they can do.

On Corneria: Inside the hospital, there is a patient who just got out of the emergency room. Dan, aka Sebun, a Warrior of Light from M78, gas just been patched up after his fight with Shodai after Sebun had been possessed by the Aparoids. Miraculously, the Aparoid infection was already at an extreme low when he was rushed in. The main problem was patching him up after his fight while the infection left on its own. Perplexed, the doctors gave him a room in the recovery ward. As the German Shepherd lies in bed, a white cat nurse came in to check on the patient. She found the Shepherd to be attractive, and was about to leave, when she thought that she heard a voice. She turned around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She turned to leave again, but she was sure that she heard the voice again. She turned, and saw Dan's eyes open. He was looking right at her, his eyes pleading.

'Can you get something from my jacket?' a voice inside her head asked. Without realizing it, she found herself walking towards the yellow jacket that was sitting on the chair next to the desk by the window. 'In the inside pocket.' the voice said again. She found it, and pulled out a strange item; it looked like a pair of glasses without the support that was red in color, and had lenses that were boxy and angular in shape, with a black dot in the center in both of them. 'Hold it up to the sunlight.' The nurse did as she was bidden, and sunlight struck the peculiar mask. Then, the mask started to glow, and then flew from her hand and landed on the German Shepherd's face. He stood up, still clad in stirrups while the mask was affixed to his face. "DYAH!" With that shout, his head turned from that of a dog's to silvery with glowing yellow boxy eyes and a green glowing jewel in the forehead with a type of fin on top and a weird mouthpiece, while the stirrups faded and the shoulders and chest were covered with yellow and silver panels of some kind, and the rest of the body turned red with silver in slight places. Sebun had his arms in a flexing position, then dropped them and looked at the stun nurse as she was shocked by the sudden transformation. He nodded at her, and she fell to the floor, fainted. Sebun shook his head, and pulled his own teleportation technique; he thrusted his left arm in front, and with a shout, he pulled it back to his chest. Then, he vanished into the air.

Cornerian Gate Way: The gigantic Aparoid missile was cruising ever closer while the Star Fox team and Shodai tried everything to stop it. Shodai fired his Spacium Ray at the thing in various parts, but could not put so much as a dent on it. The team fired charged shots and nova bombs, but the result was still the same. Then, Shodai flew in front of it, and actually grabbed the tip. The missile itself was several times his size, but he didn't let that stop him. He shouted with effort as he tried to push the missile back with brute strength. Though able to bench-press over a hundred thousand tons over his head, the missile was only slowed down, but barely. And what's more, the Aparoid drones were starting to close in on him. He looked behind him, and found himself in between a rock and hard place. If he moved, the missile will destroy the Gate Way and everything else. If he didn't, he would probably fall victim to the Aparoid drones. He saw death looking right at him once more, but refused to let the missile go. Then, a bright green beam of light struck the drones, and they exploded. Sebun flew in, and grabbed the missile next to Shodai.

"SEBUN!" Shodai shouted. "But…how…?"

"Later, nii-san. We have to take care of this, first!" Sebun replied. Shodai nodded. And with the combined strength of both Ultras, they were able to push the gigantic missile away from the station, and throw it away from it. It hurtled away from them, and both Ultras looked at eachother and nodded. Sebun placed his arms in a flexing position once more, and light from Lylat wafted over to the solar panels on his chest. They glowed a bright yellow, and the glow went from his chest, and into his arms, light and energy wafting off of them like a vapor. Shodai's form started to glow a bright blue and white, and the glow entered his arms, much like Sebun's. Then, Shodai placed his arms in a plus shape, while Sebun placed his in an 'L' shape, with the right arm sitting atop the left hand. Shodai fired his Spacium Ray at full blast, while Sebun fired a yellow ray of energy that went from the tip of his fingers, to along the edge of his hand and forearm to his elbow. The Spacium Ray and Solar Wide Shot both struck the missile, and it exploded in a brilliant fire ball. Both Ultras lowered their arms when the explosion died. Fox decided to report this one.

"Missile destruction confirmed!" he said.

"Well done, everyone. We finished the self-destruct program as well. All we need to do is gift-wrap it for the queen." Beltino said.

"Guess it's almost time to head for their homeworld, huh?" Fox said. The team headed for the Great Fox, with Sebun and Shodai not too far behind. The arwings entered first, followed by two balls of glowing red. The balls disappeared, and Steven and Dan were standing in front of eachother. Dan had a friendly smile on his face, while Steven looked near tears.

"Sorry to have worried you." he said.

"It's alright…nii-san…" Steven said, choking up. He looked down, the first tears already hitting the floor. Dan chuckled and grasped his friend's shoulder. He knew that the others were watching.

"You shouldn't cry in front of your friends like this. It's undignified." Dan said. However, Steven didn't care. In fact, he embraced his close friend. Dan chuckled, and held him while Steven cried openly, not caring who watched. The Star Fox team saw this from the background, and smiled at the sight. Even Slippy was brought to tears from the sight.

"What's up with you?" Falco asked, seeing the frog like this.

"This is…the happiest thing I've seen…" the little frog said, tears coming down as he watched he two friends. However, Steven and Dan broke away, and made their way to the group, who then walked to the command head of the Great Fox. Now that the self-destruct program was completed, the hard part was next; storming the Aparoids' homeworld.


	10. Natural Selection

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

Chapter 10

Natural Selection

In orbit around Corneria, the Orbital Gate Way was moving. In front of the large station, the ring-like construction started to pull apart, revealing six different segments. They pulled apart to form a complete circle from eachother several hundred meters in diameter. Once they were at the right distance from eachother, a bright emerald ring of energy was produced between them. Then, from three of the segments, three bright green laser beams were coming to meet eachother in the center. Once they did, there was a bright flash, and the ring was now a shimmering circle that looked like it was rippling, like a liquid. In front of it, the Great Fox, flanked on both sides by several dozen Cornerian cruisers, was awaiting the word from command to proceed. On board the Great Fox, the Star Fox team was ready. "Well, it's almost time." Peppy said, sitting in the command spot.

"Opening fleet-wide transmission." ROB said in his monotone voice. Moments later, General Pepper's voice was heard.

"Attention, fleet of Corneria. We at command have done all we can. We now entrust everything to you. Please, do your best…but try to come back alive." General Pepper signed off, and Fox McCloud turned to face Dan and Steven.

"Have you contacted your people yet?" he asked.

"We have sent them the coordinates of the Aparoid homeworld, and they told us that they will rendezvous with us once we arrive." Steven said. Fox nodded.

"Okay, is everyone ready? Star Fox, move out." The Great Fox started to move towards the Gate Way, while the fleet followed close behind.

Unknown part of space: In a star system in the other side of the galaxy, a green circle of rippling energy appeared. Coming from it, the Great Fox floated in, and was headed for the planet that was in front of it. It was a medium-sized planet that was dark-blue in color, with most of the contours unnoticeable in the darkness of space.

"Coordinates of Aparoid homeworld confirmed and stored in memory." ROB said.

"This is it?" Falco asked.

"It's lovely…I wasn't expecting that." Krystal said.

"I can't say much for its beauty, considering what's inhabiting it." Steven replied, his arms folded across his chest while Dan shared the same attitude.

"Wait, its size and mass are disproportionate." Peppy said.

"What? What does that mean?" Slippy asked.

"Are you saying…" Fox started. By now, the rest of the fleet warped in from behind the Great Fox while the ship neared the planet.

"Looks like it." Peppy said. "The planet is somewhat hollow in the center. It's probably where the Aparoids have made their nest."

"So, how do we get to the center, then?" Falco asked.

"Swing the ship around. Let's see if we can't find something like an entrance." Fox said. Circling around the planet, they eventually found what they were looking for, although not quite what they were expecting; looking like a gigantic wound on an otherwise flawless surface, a large Aparoid nest was seen taking up more than a third of the planet's surface. "I guess that's what we're looking for." Fox said.

"So, that's where they came from…" Steven said, his grip tightening. The rest of the fleet arrived next to the Great Fox as it floated stationary in space. The screen enhanced itself until it was a close-up of the Aparoids' base. There, the team was able to make out a large opening of some kind that went straight down into the planet. Peppy was the first to point this out.

"Look, that's probably where the Aparoids came from. Maybe we can use that to get to the interior of the planet."

"But after the Aparoids come out, it looks like a shield of some kind goes up." Slippy interjected.

"Is there any way to disable it?" Fox asked.

"Multiple shield generators in place, Displaying now." ROB said.

"If there's any indication in the past, there are probably hatchers around those generators." Fox mused. The screen turned to a cross-section of the Aparoids' home base with indications of the shield generators and Aparoid hatchers.

"Even if we could move forward, that's as far as we'd get. The Aparoids would be upon us in moments." Peppy said. "What about that back-up? I thought you guys said that as soon as we'd get here, help would be on the way." the hare asked, turning to Dan and Steven. Both vulpine and canine looked at eachother and nodded. Then, they pulled out their devices, and turned into their Ultra selves. Looking out of the main view-port, they threw their right arms out forward, a ball of light from each of them was sent flying until they connected, and formed the same signal that Sebun used on Titania.

"All we can do now is wait until they show up." Shodai said.

"Hopefully we won't have to wait for long, but we can't just sit here. We need to get going, now!" Fox said. The team headed for the hangar, while Shodai and Sebun teleported to outside of the ship. The fleet took up positions around the planet while the four arwings made planet-side. Steven was about to transform and head down as well, but something stopped him; he saw Dan holding back in the hangar, as if he was waiting for Steven to leave.

"You're not coming?" he asked. Dan shook his head.

"This is your assignment. I was sent as backup. I need to remain here when the Space Garrison show up, so I can lead them here." Dan said. "Everything now is up to you, and your friends. Remember what's at stake here, and do the Garrison proud." Steven nodded, and took out his Beta Capsule. With a great flash of light, Shodai was flying out of the hangar and towards the planet. Dan looked out, his gaze following Shodai until he became a speck so small, he could not be seen.

Aparoid homeworld: In the sky just above the nest, four arwings descended to the surface, while a red streak followed close. Shodai caught up to the Star Fox team, following on the same heading as them. "Where's Dan at?" Krystal asked.

"He had to remain topside. He said he had to be there when the main Garrison force showed up."

"Alright, here's what's going to happen. Slippy and Falco, you guys patrol the skies, and shoot down any drones that you come across. I want the clear of any bogies. Krystal, you're with me. We're going after the shields, and the hatchers."

"Got it." Falco said.

"Leave it to me." Slippy replied.

"Another mission together." Krystal said.

"Steven, I got something for you as well."

"And what may that be?" Shodai asked.

"I want you to create as much havoc as you possibly can."

"What?" the Ultra asked.

"We need the drones on the ground to be kept busy as well, and that's where you come in. You're a pretty hard target to miss, especially when you'll tearing everything apart with your bare hands." If he could, Shodai would be smiling broadly right now.

"Fox, it would be a genuine pleasure." he said, a smile evident in his voice. Fox returned it with a toothy grin of his own. The Aparoids' home base was massive, easily twice the size of Corneria City, as it was situated above the massive nest. And in the center just below the floating base was the entrance to the Queen's lair. Fox and Krystal landed next to the entrance leading to the nearest shield generator. However, several drones blocked their path. That is, until Shodai rained down his Spacium Ray and disintegrated them. Landing behind the two vulpines in his several-meter tall height, the red and silver alien warrior looked about him. Drones of all types were scuttling about, but seemed to ignore him for the most part. That is, until he decided to fire his deadly weapon at the spire in front of him, destroying it in a macabre of flames. Then, the Aparoids took notice, and acted. "I'm going to enjoy this…" he said, almost under his breath. He lunged at them, and crushed several under his immense weight. Some actually jumped up upon him, but Shodai swatted them away, knocking them to the ground, dead. Taking advantage of the situation, Krystal and Fox entered the structure that held the generators. Going down a narrow hallway, the pair rounded a corner, and saw several drones standing guard in front of a large room. Fox pulled a grenade from behind, and chucked it at the group. In seconds, the guards were turned to ash. The vulpine and vixen ran through the opening, and sure enough saw the twin generators and hatchers that were placed around it. The hatchers started to produce more drones, and the Aparoids took notice of their uninvited guests. Fox blasted at the ones closest to them, then fired upon the hatchers themselves. However, the drones were being produced more than Fox could blast away, and using a grenade this close could be deadly to both of them. However, he didn't have to make that choice. He heard the telltale sound of rounds being fired in rapid succession, and the said rounds tearing apart the Aparoids that were coming closer. He looked behind him, and saw Krystal armed with one of the machine guns from the armory. She looked at him, a knowing smile on her muzzle.

"What would you do without me?" she asked. Fox nodded, and threw the a couple grenades at the hatchers and generators while the pair beat a hasty retreat. The explosion that followed knocked them face-first into the ground, and what was left of the room was a blackened hole. "Don't you think that's overkill?" Krystal asked, coughing a bit.

"Can't be too careful with these things." Fox replied. Both picked themselves up, and headed for the next target.

Orbit around the Aparoids' homeworld: Peppy was right, in saying that the Aparoids would be upon them in moments after the team left for the surface. Immediately after the team touched down, the first swarm came in at an alarming speed. The cruisers were able to repel them for the most part, and the fighters were keeping the smaller drones busy in dogfights. Even Sebun got involved, blasting away at every drone that came near him or the fleet. The Great Fox, armed with particle guns of her own, blasted away at every group of drones that came in sight. Each blast was enough to wipe out a group of individuals. 'We won't be able to last much longer at this rate,' Peppy thought. While the fleet was holding its own for now, more and more drones flew up from the surface to replace their fallen. It would only be a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. "Fox, this is Peppy. Hurry up and get that shield down! We're taking on losses up here."

"Peppy, Fox. Have the Ultras arrived yet?"

"Not yet, Fox. They seem to be taking their sweet time."

"Just hold on. We'll have the shield down in time." Fox said. Heading for another part of the base with Krystal, he could see Shodai blasting away at a group of drones heading near him before sending a couple of shredding halos at some of the airborne units, slicing them to ribbons. 'At least someone is holding out,' Fox thought.

"Fox, up ahead!" Krystal shouted, pointing in front of them. He saw it too. Another entrance. Both vulpines ran inside, and saw several ramps leading upward. However, below one of the platforms, they saw a couple of hatchers. Fox did away with them with a couple of well-placed shots from his blaster, but not before several ball-like objects rolled forward, and then lunged at them, revealing spikes that were hidden within an armored shell. Fox dove out of the way of one, but it managed to nearly slice his calf open. Krystal did away with them with her machine gun, then turned to Fox who was bleeding heavily from his leg.

"Fox! Are you alright?" she asked. She looked at the wound, and saw that it was deep. She kept pressure on the wound, even though Fox objected.

"Krystal, we need to find the generators and destroy them!"

"I'm not going to leave you here and let you bleed to death!" she retorted. Fox was stunned a bit, and was even more surprised to see her pull out her staff. It extended, and she touched the round end to the wound. A soft, warm blue light wafted from it, and entered the wound, healing it in an instant. Soon, the pain was gone from his leg, and Fox was able to stand up again. He looked at Krystal, a puzzled look on his face. He forgot that she even _had_ that staff when she joined the team in the first place. And yet, she's been carrying it around with her this whole time?

"How long have you had that with you?" he asked.

"For awhile." Krystal replied.

"And you never thought to pull it out until now?" he asked.

"The staff wasn't made for killing, remember?" Krystal retorted. This shut Fox up as both made their way up the ramps towards the generators. Finding two in each corner of the large room that they were in, bot them destroyed them, but not before dealing with the guards in the room. However, there was still one left. The problem, was the multiple walls that were in the room blocking the path. Weaving around them, they were able to locate the lone generator, surrounded by Aparoid hatchers. Several drones materialized from the hatchers, and turned their attention to the two vulpines. Krystal squeezed the trigger on her machine gun, but it clicked on empty, the clips have run dry. As the swarm advanced, she pulled out her staff again, and fired several fireballs at the Aparoids, turning each one into cinders upon contact. Then, she turned her sights on the hatchers themselves and fired, one shot destroying each, before finishing it with a running stab at the generator with the pointed end with her staff. She wrenched her weapon free from the generator, and Fox saw the construct literally fall apart where it stood. Krystal still had her staff extended as she walked out of the room while Fox followed closely, still in shock and awe by what he saw. Outside, it was total chaos. The drones didn't even notice the foxes walking out, so engrossed were they in their fight against the towering invader who struck again and again with his deadly rays. Shodai swept his Spacium Ray over the swarm of drones who were closing in, the bright blue/white light dealing death to the oncoming Aparoids. Some, looking like gigantic wheels with small heads and launchers on their sides, tried to ram him. Shodai saw this, and leapt into the air before they could touch him. He landed behind one of them. It was no taller than his waist, and he grabbed it with both hands before hefting it up, and throwing it back into the swarm, where it crushed several of the drones. The other was rolling right for him, but Shodai was ready for it. Steeling himself, he waited until it was mere meters from him before jumping to one side and giving it a kick to its side, making it wobble as it rolled on until it collapsed on its side, unable to get back up. In the air, Falco and Slippy were again outnumbered, but certainly not outclassed. The drones that fired at them tried to line them up in their sights, but the nimble craft would not hold still long enough to get a good bead. For every shot fired, two or three of the drones fell to the ground, dead. Things on the ground seemed to be going smoothly.

In orbit around the Aparoids' homeworld: The fleet was beginning to suffer. Having lost twenty percent of its total force, the ships were being pushed back. In the Great Fox, Peppy steered the ship so as the target the largest group out of the swarm. The Great Fox fired and fired, but the massive losses to the Aparoids didn't seem to make them mind. There was just too many. Already some were beginning to cling to the ship. 'We're gonna need a miracle, and fast!' Peppy thought. Outside, Sebun was feeling the brunt of the force as well. Having already killed innumerable drones, he lost count and was now just firing his Emelium Beam and Solar Wide Shot every which way, each one downing a mass of drones. Soon he was surrounded on all sides by drones. He saw himself as an Aparoid once more, and was prepared to fight to his last breath before they do away with him. Then, a bright blue beam of light swept around him, destroying the Aparoids in moments.

"I figured you'd be in over your head, Member Sebun." The Ultra recognized that authoritive-sounding voice. And sure enough, a new figure floated down from above, and was in front of him with his arms folded across his powerful chest. He looked almost exactly like Shodai, save for the several gleaming studs on his pectorals and arms.

"Commander Zoffy!" Sebun shouted. Indeed, the commander of the Space Garrison turned from his subordinate and to the Aparoid swarm. On the Great Fox, ROB took notice of the change in the situation.

"Alert, subject Steven, aka Shodai has arrived." Peppy saw this, and his mouth hung open.

"What? What's he doing back up here?" he asked aloud. However, the view magnified, and he saw that it wasn't exactly the aforementioned Ultra. "Wait a minute, what's going on here?" he asked. Zoffy turned to the Great Fox, and gave a slight nod. Then, he looked up.

"Everyone, ATTACK! Show them the pride of the Ultra race!" Just then, dozens upon dozens of shimmering red balls of light descended upon the swarm, each one taking on a humanoid form, looking like either Sebun, or Shodai, and some unrecognizable. It was then that Peppy realized.

"Looks like the cavalry is here." he said, a smile under his mustache. The Ultras attacked with unrelenting fury, ravaging the Aparoids' ranks with their weaponry. Rays of all colors were fired from them, creating a splendid light show inside the swarm. Caught off guard, the Aparoids tried to counter-attack, but it seemed hopeless. The Cornerian fleet needed a breather, and it looks like they got it as they watched the swarm get decimated from the inside. "ROB, patch me in through to Fox."

"Channel open." ROB replied.

"Fox, can you hear me, this is Peppy."

"Go ahead, Pep'." Fox replied.

"Steven's people just arrived. They're literally tearing the Aparoids a new one up here!" Fox felt relief wash over him.

"That's great, Peppy! How's the fleet doing?"

"We lost twenty percent of our total force, but otherwise we can still continue the fight."

"Alright, just don't do anything reckless."

"Reckless? Me? I think you forgot that your father and I _invented_ the word reckless when we were younger." Peppy said, after signing off. He saw from the portside cameras that the Aparoids clinging to the Great Fox were starting to multiply. "Yep, invented the word indeed." He guided the ship towards the planet.

Surface of the Aparoid homeworld: Shodai just received word that his people have arrived in full force. His heart leaped at the news. Now with an entire army of Ultras backing them, there's no way that they couldn't win this day! Already the shield generators were all destroyed, and a couple of arwings waited for Fox and Krystal. Hopping in, they and Shodai floated above the airborne base, the large, gaping hole leading to the planet's interior looking like a doorway. "Be ready, for anything and everything! Strap in, buckle down and hit the planet!" However, before the arwings could make a move, Slippy stopped them.

"Hold on, Fox! Something's weird. Energy readings keep getting stronger!" Below, something strange was transpiring; coming from the rim of the opening, light-blue hexagonal shapes started to form, until they completely blocked the entrance like a shining sky-blue wall.

"You gotta be kidding!" Falco said, flying closer. He fired a couple shots, but the bolts did no damage at all. "What?!"

"What's going on?" Krystal asked. The four arwings and Ultra were floating just above the barrier.

"The energy's forming a shield! Laser fire's gonna be useless!"

"Let's see just _how _useless!" Shodai shouted. He fired his Spacium Ray at the barrier, but the ray, much like Falco's own laser bolts, failed to penetrate the shield. Shodai stopped firing as he stared at the barrier. He had come across times when his most potent weapon was rendered useless, but not quite like this.

"Dang it!" Fox cursed.

"Out of the way, everybody!" Peppy's voice sounded over their headsets.

"Peppy?!" Krystal asked, and sure enough, descending from the sky, the Great Fox was in a free fall, more than half the ship was covered in Aparoids who were striving to assimilate the vessel. It seemed the hull convulsed and writhed with a life of its own.

"Extreme impairment. Main hull will not survive much damage." ROB said as alarms went off in the command bridge. The compartment was flashing red.

"Who cares?! Divert all power to the main guns!" Peppy shouted. He took aim at the floating base. "FIRE!" the heavy particle guns fired at the base twice destroying it in a large explosion that threw debris at the Great Fox.

"Damage capacity exceeded." ROB warned.

"Too bad. We're goin' out in style!" Peppy said.

"Peppy, you can't die!" Fox said. At that point, Shodai flew towards the Great Fox, and fired his Spacium Ray at the hull, burning off the drones and scorching the assimilated hull with mini-explosions and showers of sparks.

"Save your energy, Steven! You'll need it!" Peppy said, making the Ultra stop.

"Peppy, we're not going to just let you die!" Krystal said.

"Back off, all of you!" Peppy shouted.

"Peppy, you mustn't…" Fox started.

"Yes, this is my duty. And now you must fulfill your duty as well, Fox." Peppy said.

"Peppy!" Krystal called.

"Don't do it, Peppy!" Slippy cried.

"What are you doing? Crazy old fool!" Falco shouted. Like a gigantic spearhead, the head of the Great Fox pierced the shield, shattering it like glass. The neck of the ship went in all the way, leaving the main body sticking out while the several pieces of the ship broke off and explosions rocked the great vessel. Inside the cockpit, panels shorted and consoles exploded all around Peppy and ROB.

"What are you fool doing?! That shield will be right back! Get out of here, now!" Inside his arwing, Fox shut his eyes tightly, then opened them as he tried to take control of the situation.

"Enough! Peppy's opened a road for us! So we have to go on, without him! So come on…COME ON!" Inside their own arwings, the team allowed themselves to grieve a little for the loss of their eldest member, the one who seemed like a father figure to them. Even Shodai was touched by the hare's self-sacrifice. "LET'S MOOOVE!" As the arwings and Ultra surged forward, Shodai looked back as the shield closed behind them.

"Sayonora, Peppy-sama. Arigato." he said before flying after the arwings. Behind them, a great flash of light and loud explosion sealed the fate of Peppy Hare and ROB 64. However, the group would have to grieve later as they made their way towards the planet interior. The long corridor leading to the center seemed to stretch on forever, until after what seemed like an eternity, a soft glow could be seen.

"Hey, what's that?" Falco asked. As the team flew forward, the glow increased until they could make out a shape in the center. Reaching it, the team saw the corridor opened to a large chamber that seemed to have a kind of reflective liquid on the bottom, while the walls were snow white with flecks of violet thrown in, and in the center, stood a figure. "That must be…" Falco began.

"The Queen." Krystal finished. Indeed, for before them was a figure that seemed to be covered in a shining white covering with yellow orbs along the ridges at the bottom, shrouding everything except the face, which looked like a pale white mask with four small violet eyes on top with an ebony jewel in the middle. While the team stared at the Aparoid Queen, Shodai felt his revulsion at her mount. It was a little bigger than he was, but she looked stationary. One solid blow, and self-destruct program or no, the whole fiendish race will die with her. However, before Shodai could make his move, a familiar voice stopped him.

"Fox…"

"Huh?" Fox replied.

"Fox, don't be a fool. Stop this nonsense." The vulpine recognized it.

"Pigma?!" he nearly shouted.

"You swine! But…you're supposed to be dead…" Falco said, his voice trailing off.

"Star Fox team, accept defeat…" a new voice said. Fox recognized it as one of the aides to General Pepper.

"Wh-what is…" Slippy started.

"Give in. This is not sacrifice…it is evolution." Peppy's voice said.

"Not Peppy, too?! Stop!" Krystal shouted.

"What the heck's going on here?!" Shodai shouted.

"Fox…" a new voice said that made Fox's soul freeze.

"Dad?!" he asked.

"That's enough. There's no need for you to be hurt anymore." Fox gasped when he heard this.

"Let us live as one." James McCloud's voice said.

"Fox, don't let it fool you! You now your father is…" Falco couldn't finish, but he didn't have to.

"I know! My father…my father would never tell me to give up!" Fox shouted. Slippy came to the realization.

"I think I get it! The queen is using information from all the things she's absorbed!"

"Fox, there's no need to fight anymore…" James' voice said.

"Let us live together…together…"

"Live as one…"

The voices continued their cacophony while Fox tried to sort the situation out. Finally, after finding his resolved, he knew what he had to do.

"Everyone, let's give the queen her present!" With that said, the arwings and Ultra flew around the Aparoid Queen while the armor around her shifted. Some of it opened to reveal gigantic wing-like appendages while others covered the main body still. The fight was on! From the wings, rings of purple energy were fired at the fighters while they evaded the attack. Shodai fired with his Spacium Ray, the attack not doing any noticeable damage on the Aparoid Queen's body.

"She's armored…" Shodai muttered. "Any way to pierce that?"

"Steven, look at the spots on her armor. They're colored differently!" Krystal said. Indeed, Shodai saw that on the edges of the armor, there were different-colored protrusions on the ends. He aimed for the yellow ones on the wings. The attack proved successful in that two of the wings were destroyed. Fox and Falco aimed at the ones covering the main body. The armor fell away, the Queen's defenses beginning to crumble. However, she was far from being beat. Coming from the queen herself, several brown-colored orbs floated around. The orbs took on a more definite shape, and a type of larvae was seen within that was growing rapidly. The Queen was using her own offspring as a weapon. The fighters evaded the bouncing eggs as best they could, but that made attacking the queen all the more difficult. However, Shodai fired his Spacium Ray, and the eggs were vaporized in an instant. Krystal and Slippy attacked the wings again, shattering three more while Fox and Falco attacked the main body again. However, the Queen's armor was starting to regenerate, replacing the damaged sections in moments.

"ENOUGH!" Shodai yelled. His form glowing white, he charged up his Spacium Ray to its fullest capacity. The team got out of his way as he fired it at the queen. The armor disintegrated, leaving an exposed Aparoid Queen before them, but it would last only a moment before the armor regenerated. In the center of the thorax was a violet jewel Fox fired a couple of Nova Bombs at this, shattering it.

"Take THIS!" he shouted as he fired the capsule that had the self-destruct program into the wound on the queen. There was a bright flash of light, and the only remains of the queen was the thorax. "Is it working?" Fox asked. Everyone froze in mid-air.

"I'm not sure, but…" Slippy said.

"…hm?" Krystal mused, sensing something. Just then, the chamber began to shake.

"Something's wrong, Fox." the vixen said.

"…All for us…Everything in the universe…Will be ours…" a new voice said.

"What?!" Fox asked.

"All for us…Everything in the universe exists for us…" the new voice continued while the chamber shook. The remains of the queen started to sink into the liquid. "Bow before us! Submit to us!"

"What?!" Falco asked.

"Is the self-destruct program working?!" Krystal asked.

"It should be working, but the Queen's suppressing it!" Slippy said, panic showing in his voice. "This is bad! If she escapes, she'll create an antibody!" Fox cursed.

"Fox!" Falco said.

"Fox!" replied Slippy.

"Fox!" Replied Krystal.

We have to destroy that thing, and execute that program!" Fox said. Shodai nodded at him. "This is it! The final battle!" The arwings and Ultra flew after the Aparoid Queen down into the pit. The floor that wad the thorax of the Queen shifted over to reveal four large pink orbs, almost like eyes. And directly beneath them were openings. From them came gigantic claws that looked like were the pincers found on a giant scorpion. They grasped for the arwings, but they evaded them. Shodai let fly his shredding halos, severing the claws from their perches. Fox took aim at one of the glowing orbs, his twin-laser making the orb close like an eye. And with it, the opening closed beneath it as well.

"That's it, Fox!" Krystal said. She followed his example, and aimed for the other orb. It did the same thing, and Slippy ad Falco did the same. Soon, all of the orbs were closed. Then, another opening appeared in the center of the queen's body. And out of it, came an armored, serpent-like body that looked part organic, and part metallic. On the massive, snake-like head was a mask with a single eye in the center that looked at each of them.

"What's that?! Looks disgusting!" Slippy said.

"I think it's trying to scare us with that ugly mug!" Falco replied. He fired at it, but the emerald bolts just bounced off of the 'face' of the Aparoid Queen. However, Shodai decided to take a more direct approach. He lunged forward, and threw a punch at the Queen's face. Even though he was just only two-thirds the Queen's size, the attack had enough force to make the head snap to the left, almost breaking the neck. However, it was able to knock the mask off, revealing the queen's face. "Atta boy, Steven!" Falco said. However, the Aparoid Queen looked at the Ultra, and opened her maw. Licking flames erupted from it, and threatened to consume the Warrior of Light. However, Shodai was able to bring up his Light Barrier and block the flames. Then, he flew next the Queen, and wrapped his left arm around the Queen's neck, just behind the head, holding her in place. He looked at Fox, and nodded.

"Got it!" Fox said as he fired at the Queen's face. The emerald bolts struck the Queen, throwing sparks while the Aparoid Queen shrieked metallically in pain. She knocked Shodai off of her, and the head withdrew back into the body. The orbs opened up again, and the claws reappeared. However, the team was ready for her this time. As they got closer to attack the orbs, one of them was able to grab Shodai by the neck when he was close enough. Giving a grunt in surprise, he grabbed at the appendage that held onto him stubbornly. Then, he grabbed at the stalk, and with a loud shout, he tore the claw from the stalk. He threw the useless appendage away and fired his Slash Ray at the orb, making it close. However, the others were not as fortunate. While the claws were more active now, the orbs had an attack of their own as well, shooting pink-colored orbs or energy at the arwings. The fighters were able to evade these, and shoot at the orbs themselves, the claws retreating back to their holes. Then, the central opening opened again, and the Queen's head popped out, sporting a new mask. That's when Krystal felt it.

"Fox, I can feel the Queen's mind. She's afraid of us!"

"Alright!" Slippy said, hearing the transmission. He surged his arwing forward, hoping to take the Queen out. However, the Aparoid Queen opened her maw again, and prepared to breath her flames once more. Slippy saw this, but knew he was too close to her to do anything. Then, a form got in between him and the Aparoid Queen, and Shodai's back was bathed in the searing flames. He groaned in pain as the fire burned him, and his warning light was starting to flash a steady red, but he wouldn't move, not until Slippy made it to safety. Once the amphibian did so, he got out of the Queen's way, and flew in front of her. "Thanks, Steven." Slippy said. Steven looked back, and nodded with a grunt. He turned his attention back towards the Aparoid Queen, who was preparing to fire another round off, but Shodai was able to bring his barrier up in time. Then, he struck at the Aparoid Queen, but she caught the arm in her gigantic mouth. Steven groaned in pain again, and tried to beat the head off of him, but to no avail. Then, several explosions bloomed atop the head as nova bombs exploded, making the queen shriek in surprise. She let Shodai go, and the Warrior of Light once more out the Queen in a strangle hold, keeping her in place for the Star Fox team to take her out. This time, the team unloaded all of the nova bombs that they had, not only destroying the mask, but destroying the head as well. The neck returned to the main body, and the body burst into flames, revealing the last incarnation of the Aparoid Queen, a central core with a single eye in the middle with antennae-like protrusions coming out of the four corners.

"Fox, now!" Krystal said.

"Here I come, you space hag!" Fox said. He fired upon the Queen with everything he had. Then, he let loose his very last nova bomb that he had in reserve. It exploded against the queen, and Shodai fired his Spacium Ray into the explosion for good measure. The Aparoid Queen gave a final scream, then disappeared in a bright light. "That's the end of the queen…" Fox said, his arwing hovering. A tremor shook his ship and he flinched somewhat. "Hey!"

"The program's working!" Slippy cried.

"I guess that's the end of the Aparoids!" Falco said.

"The destruction is spreading across the whole planet…." Krystal said.

"It's starting to destabilize!" Shodai finished.

"So the whole thing was just one big entity…" Fox said.

"It would seem like it." Shodai said. "She tried to bypass evolution by stealing souls, it would seem."

"However, you have to be born with one." Fox finished. Shodai nodded.

"That's the basics of evolution, the _willingness_ to change." Fox looked around him. "All ships, escape at maximum velocity!" With that, the four arwings and one Ultra shot out of the center of the planet, evading the falling debris as they did so.

Outside the Aparoids' homeworld: The planet was spinning slowly when it started to glow. Then, it exploded into a bright flash of light. And from that light, five shapes flew from it until they were recognized as four arwings, and an Ultra. All around them, debris started to surround them, but they knew they were in no danger of being hit by anything. "Whew! I can't believe it, but I'm still breathing!" Slippy said. The arwings slowed to a listless hover with Shodai right beside them.

"And, I have a rather interesting report to fill out for my superiors." Shodai said, a hint of a smile in his voice. However, the only one who wasn't jovial was Krystal.

"But…so many casualties…Peppy…Wolf's team…so many noble sacrifices…." Just then, Slippy looked out of the canopy, and saw something that made him gasp in surprise.

"Slippy, what is it?!" Fox asked, dreading the fact that some of the Aparoids might have survived the destruction. However, it was just the opposite. Coming from the distance was a flashing red light.

"What's that?" Krystal asked.

"Could that be…no, it couldn't…" Falco said. And sure enough, it was; coming from the debris was an escape pod, flanked by two familiar figures.

"Hey, you're all okay! Hoo, that was hairy! I promise that I'm really gonna retire after this." Fox felt his heart leap into his throat when he recognized the voice.

"It's peppy! Ha ha ha!" Slippy cried for joy. Behind the escape pod, Sebun and Zoffy looked at eachother, and nodded. It was then that Shodai saw them.

"Commander!" he shouted. The others saw the two Ultras, and Peppy spoke again.

"You can thank those two for my being here. After the ship exploded, the escape pod got rattled around a bit, but these guys saved my tired, old hide from the fire." Shodai floated up to his superior, gave him a salute that Zoffy returned, and spoke.

"Sir, the situation here is under control. The Aparoids here have all been eliminated."

"I can see that." Zoffy said, amusement showing in his voice as he looked around at the floating debris. "Not exactly the way you handle a mission, but effective nonetheless. You have done well here today, Members Shodai."

"Oh no, sir. I can't take all of the credit." Shodai moved past his superior to reveal the Star Fox team. "It was them who found the Aparoids' homeworld, _and_ found a way to defeat them. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to stop them."

"I see." Zoffy floated past his subordinate, and in front of the Star Fox team. The Warrior of Light towered over them as they took in his gigantic frame. "We are in your debt. Not just the Ultra race, but the countless civilizations and races who would have faced extinction had you not been able to do what you just did. For that, I thank you on thier behalf." Zoffy said, bowing slightly.

"Well, gee. It was nothing. All in a day's work, I guess." Slippy replied. Zoffy nodded, then turned to his subordinates.

"Sebun, return ton M78 for debriefing."

"Roger!" Sebun said and took off.

"What about me, sir?" Shodai asked.

"I want you to head to Lylat, and assess the situation there. Make sure that all of the Aparoids in this sector and in Lylat are destroyed." Zoffy said, nodding at his superior.

"Roger!" Shodai said with a salute. Zoffy nodded, and with a shout he was flying off in the same direction as Sebun. Shodai turned to the Star Fox team, and after shrinking his size, both he and the team made their way to the gateway.

"Hey, Fox, I was wondering something." Slippy said.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that, since Peppy survived, that maybe Star Wolf is around as well?"

"It's possible. Anything is possible." Fox said. He smiled broadly at that. "Anything is possible."

Ultraman, the Aparoid Invasion

END


End file.
